According to Toronto impaired driving lawyer at Ernst Ashurov, impaired driving is the leading criminal offence that causes most deaths and injuries in Toronto. For instance, in 2017 alone, the police reported more than 69000 impaired driving occurrences and out of these, 3500 cases were drug-impaired driving incidences.
As a result of this, many states in Canada, including Toronto, added more laws and regulations concerning driving. So, it is crucial to be mindful of the laws in each province to stay on the right side of the law. Here are some things Toronto impaired driving lawyer wants you to be aware of.
- Impaired Driving
It is well stipulated in the criminal code that you shouldn’t drive under the influence of drugs, alcohol the combination of both. If you commit this offence, you can get fined or even get life imprisonment, depending on the severity of the case.
- Prohibited Levels
Apart from driving under the influence, you can be charged if you are found with specified prohibited levels of cannabis, alcohol or other drugs in your blood within 120 mins of driving. Penalties for this offence range from fines to life imprisonment depending on the magnitude of the offence.
- Alcohol
The BAC- prohibited Blood-alcohol concentration is 80 milligrams or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
- Cannabis
When it comes to THC, there are two prohibited levels. The first one is the primary psychoactive element of THC, whereby it is not permitted to have two nanograms of marijuana per millilitre of blood. The second one is the secondary psychoactive component, where it is prohibited to have five nanograms of cannabis per millilitre of blood.
- Combination Of Cannabis And Alcohol
According to Toronto impaired driving lawyer, any combination amount exceeding 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood is prohibited. Cannabis shouldn’t exceed 2.5 nanograms per ml of blood in the combination.
- Other Drugs
It is prohibited to have any detectable amount of psilocin, LSD, ketamine, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or psilocybin in your blood within two hrs of driving.
The unacceptable levels for GHB are 5 milligrams per litre of blood. This high amount is because the body naturally produces low levels of the drug.
- Penalties
Toronto impaired driving lawyer says that impaired driving is a serious crime and it is not taken lightly in the court of law. This is because the person driving under the influence is not only responsible for his life, but also the lives of other users on the road and those being carried by him/her.
So if you are found with prohibited levels of drugs in your blood within two hours of driving, you can be charged for DUI offence.
Depending on the level of drugs in your blood at the time of arrest, the charges vary. The judge also considers other aspects such as whether it is your first offence, the extent of harm to other people (death/injury)