Legal Narcotic Use and Driving

[JonB]

My doctor prescribed a narcotic pain reliever to me yesterday. On the bottle it says "Use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery". What does this mean? I DO use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery all the time.

So is it legal to drive after taking this? If not, how long after taking it should I wait before driving?

I apologize if this has been asked before. I did a search for "narcotic" and "driving" and got a lot of hits but I didn't see this question.

[LA DEP]

My doctor prescribed a narcotic pain reliever to me yesterday. On the bottle it says "Use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery". What does this mean? I DO use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery all the time.

So is it legal to drive after taking this? If not, how long after taking it should I wait before driving?

I apologize if this has been asked before. I did a search for "narcotic" and "driving" and got a lot of hits but I didn't see this question.

Short version is NO, it is not legal to drive while taking this drug if you are impaired at all.

It is considered 'DUI-Drugs' here in CA, and the punishment is exactly the same as for DUI-Alcohol.

[Iowa #1603]

Iowa is the same as what LA DEP replied.

That is why the caution is there

[Street_Cop50]

+1 to LA DEP's response

Here's my 2 cents...

Use your common sense. If you absolutely have to drive while taking the medication, try taking it a couple hours prior to getting on the road. If you at all feel impaired, drunk, high, odd, goofy, etc. or any other variations thereof, you probably shouldn't be driving.

If you can get a ride from a friend, family member, coworker, etc. you may want to consider doing that just to be safe.

[BigW]

If it is a narcotic there is a good chance there will be impairment. Take care of yourself and others on the roadway and stay home or have someone else drive you.

Same as above where I am; DUI. I have arrested for it before.

Alcohol is legal as well but if you are impaired by it and drive......

[just joe]

If you are impaired you can be hooked up for OVI. I suspect that the drug has a more adverse reaction on some than others.

[grumpyirishman]

Like everyone else said.....

".....under the influence of any, self-administered, intoxicant or drug......"


Any questions ???????????

[Fëanor]

It depends on your own response to the medication. AFAIK there is no "Blood Alcohol Hydrocodone" legal cutoff like there is for alcohol. Personally I can take a painkiller or 2 and not feel a thing and drive just fine. Other people get all loopy from just 1 so they have to cut them in half.

If you feel any impairment, don't drive. It will not turn out good if you cause a wreck and they find painkillers in your system.

[SRT936]

It depends on your own response to the medication. AFAIK there is no "Blood Alcohol Hydrocodone" legal cutoff like there is for alcohol.

Not sure about anywhere else, but here, any detectable amount of a narcotic in your system while driving is primae facie evidence of Operating with a Prohibited Controlled Substance. In other words, if they find it in your blood, you're considered impaired.

[BigW]

Not sure about anywhere else, but here, any detectable amount of a narcotic in your system while driving is primae facie evidence of Operating with a Prohibited Controlled Substance. In other words, if they find it in your blood, you're considered impaired.

+1

Woot!

[JonB]

So, how long would it be in my blood? I figured that I would treat it like alcohol. I don't drink often but when I do drink I don't drive until the next day. But I'm curious if I took it after I got to work if it would still be in my system 9 hours later. I would never drive while "feeling high" or loopy or whatever but if you read my thread a while ago about sobriety tests you might remember that I have a really bad sense of balance. I really wouldn't want to risk driving while having any trace of this in my system. On the other hand I'm in a lot of pain so I'd like to be able to take this at some time. I haven't taken it yet. I got it filled this morning and thought I'd take it tonight to see how bad it hits me and get an idea of how long it will last.

[LA DEP]

It depends on your own response to the medication. AFAIK there is no "Blood Alcohol Hydrocodone" legal cutoff like there is for alcohol. Personally I can take a painkiller or 2 and not feel a thing and drive just fine. Other people get all loopy from just 1 so they have to cut them in half.

If you feel any impairment, don't drive. It will not turn out good if you cause a wreck and they find painkillers in your system.

The 'legal level' is pretty much zero.....if you get stopped for a traffic violation, and the officer sees some signs/symptoms of you being under the influence, then you will most likely get balanced out.

If you fail the SFSTs, then you will get arrested for DUI-Drugs.....a blood test will confirm or deny the prescence or absence of any substances in your blood.....and the test doesnt come back with a 'level' like it does with alcohol...it just shows that it is there.

You are welcome to try and fight the charge in court, but the type of DUI lawyer that would be required to even have a chance in front of a jury would set you back about 10K-20K here in the LA area.

[JonB]

The 'legal level' is pretty much zero.....if you get stopped for a traffic violation, and the officer sees some signs/symptoms of you being under the influence, then you will most likely get balanced out.

If you fail the SFSTs, then you will get arrested for DUI-Drugs.....a blood test will confirm or deny the prescence or absence of any substances in your blood.....and the test doesnt come back with a 'level' like it does with alcohol...it just shows that it is there.

You are welcome to try and fight the charge in court, but the type of DUI lawyer that would be required to even have a chance in front of a jury would set you back about 10K-20K here in the LA area.

Which leads me back to my question of how long will it be in my blood? If I were to only take it after I got home from work would I be "clean" the following morning? That would be about 13 hours later from when I take it until I'd want to drive again.

[SRT936]

Which leads me back to my question of how long will it be in my blood? If I were to only take it after I got home from work would I be "clean" the following morning? That would be about 13 hours later from when I take it until I'd want to drive again.

First up, what kind of narcotic are we talking about. Different types have different half-lives.

[Iowa #1603]

A medical question that would be better answered by a doctor.