Minnesota Drug Use: Drinking and Drug Use While Driving in Minnesota

by The U.S. National Archives

There are serious consequences involved in getting pulled over for a DWI, especially in Minnesota. DWI is short for “Driving While Intoxicated” which is similar to a DUI or “Driving Under the Influence” and means having a BAC or Blood Alcohol Content of .08 or higher. A BAC of .08 means that there is .8 grams of alcohol for every 1000 grams of blood in the body. Until 2005 the legal limit in Minnesota was .10 and they were the last state to adopt the more stringent national standard. Experts had been calling for this standard since the early 1980’s when studies showed that a person’s ability to operate a motorized vehicle was greatly diminished at this level.

A person can also be considered Driving While Intoxicated when using mind altering substances other than alcohol, although marijuana is not one of them. Certain household products that are used as inhalants and other various prescription (when un-prescribed or overdosed) and illegal drugs cause sufficient impairment as to making driving dangerous to oneself and to the community at large. Every half hour a person in the United States dies because of a “drunk driver”. According to statistics about 39% of fatal accidents are alcohol related and another 25% are drug related. That is 64% of fatal accidents that are caused by persons who are DWI! Tens of thousands of lives would be saved each year if people would not drive while under the influence. Those numbers don’t even take into account the numbers of people who are monetarily affected by driving while intoxicated or under the influence.

States like Minnesota are taking this problem seriously by instituting tough laws regarding DWI’s. There are two cases opened against drivers who are charged with a DWI, a criminal case where jail time and fines are possible outcomes and a traffic case where the loss of driving privileges is am expected consequence. The amount of the jail time, fine or loss of driving privileges depends on the “degree” of DWI the driver is guilty of. The degrees range from 1st to 4th with 1st being the most severe. The degrees depend on whether there are previous offenses and whether “aggravating” factors such as children in the car or a BAC that is double the legal limit.

The laws in Minnesota are designed to be very discouraging to the practice of driving after using drugs or alcohol and therefore the consequences are therefore very severe. There is a Zero Tolerance policy for school bus drivers and persons under the legal drinking age of 21. These persons would still be guilty of a DWI only if their BAC were .08 or higher but they receive other consequences if they have ANY alcohol whatsoever in their system including losing their licenses. Truck drivers also have a more stringent standard. They can be found guilty of a DWI with a BAC of only .04 (usually 1 or 2 drinks).

The bottom line is “Don’t Drink (or Drug) and Drive”. The consequences are severe and some last a lifetime.

Opiate Drug Use Up in Minnesota – Lakeland News at Ten – January 31, 2012.m4v –

by The U.S. National Archives

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Filed under: Minnesota Drug Use

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Filed under: Minnesota Drug Use

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Filed under: Minnesota Drug Use

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From Twitter:

http://t.co/h9MjoU1c Minnesota school helps parents to detect possible drug and alcohol use – WDAY – by DrakeBeckhip (Drake Beck)

From Twitter:

The Trust Factor – Family Law Advice – Divorce, Custody, Abuse, Drug and Alchol use (http://t.co/1etQitAs) – by Alabama_DUI (Alabama DUI)

From Twitter:

In Minnesota they can only drug test u if they have proof that u use some type of narcotic – by Jayb4ever (Juicy J)