Driving a vehicle after drinking alcohol is known to be dangerous, and drivers who have a certain level of alcohol in their system may be arrested for the offense of operating while intoxicated (OWI). However, some drivers may be uncertain about how the laws in Wisconsin address driving after using recreational drugs or other controlled substances. Are there certain levels of drugs that cause a person to be considered intoxicated? What about legal prescription drugs or other medications? Understanding how the laws address these issues can help a person avoid activities that could cause them to face criminal charges or other consequences that come with being arrested for OWI.
Wisconsin’s Definition of Impaired Driving
As is true in most other states, the legal limit for a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) in Wisconsin is .08 percent. A person will usually reach this BAC level after two or three alcoholic drinks. Even if they do not feel intoxicated or believe that they are safe to drive, they can face criminal charges if they are arrested and submit to a chemical BAC test that shows that they are over the legal limit.
When it comes to other substances, the definition of intoxication is not always as clear. Different drugs can affect different people in different ways, especially if a person has built up a tolerance to a certain substance that requires them to use higher amounts of a drug before they experience a “high.” Because of this, measuring a person’s level of intoxication is not always easy.
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