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Drinking Passes the Time, But It Also Increases Your Tolerance

Attorneys Marc Lopez and Lorie Brown recently discussed the daily stresses of healthcare professionals, how DUI is different from other criminal charges, and why it’s probably a good idea to proceed with caution as we ease back into the restaurant scene. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Lorie Brown
Hey, empowerednurses.org, it’s Lorie Brown with Empowered Nurses and yournurseattorney.com, and I’m really excited for today’s special guest, Marc Lopez. Marc, welcome.

Marc Lopez
Thank you for having me, Lorie. It’s a pleasure to be with you and to chat with you today.

Lorie Brown
Marc is a criminal defense attorney. He does a lot of DUIs, because that’s the one that most healthcare professionals are involved in—but he does any type of criminal matter. So he’s located in Indianapolis, but he does work in the surrounding counties, as well. 

I’m really excited to speak to him today, because I’m always thinking about how to give you—the listeners—the most value. And one of the things that came up is, I know that during these times—being quarantined and whatnot—as things open up, things are gonna change and you are more at risk. So I wanted to make sure that I brought Marc on to discuss what changes you can make and be aware of, so when things get back to our—whatever our new normal is—that you’ll be prepared. So, welcome Marc.

Marc Lopez
Hey, thanks for having me, Lorie. I appreciate it. I’m always excited to do interviews with you.

Lorie Brown
I love it, too. You just give so much information, and you’re like me—I’d rather prevent a problem than have a problem.

Marc Lopez
Absolutely. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble with the law. If you do get in trouble, I want you to call me, but I don’t want anyone to have to deal with this. This is not fun for—it’s fun for me in lots of ways, but it’s not fun for the person experiencing it.

Lorie Brown
I just love working with Marc, because he works a lot like me. We put the care back in the law, and we really care about our clients. And that’s so important, because we know the hospital inside and out, but the patients don’t. We to have pre-op teaching and whatnot, but we do the same in the law as well.

Marc Lopez
Absolutely, and you are one of the most caring people I’ve ever met—especially for a lawyer. I’m always impressed with your passion, and it’s infectious, Lorie, so I love doing this stuff with you.

Lorie Brown
Thank you. So, Marc, what do nurses and healthcare professionals—it’s my understanding that DUI is the number one criminal matter with healthcare professionals, right?

Marc Lopez
You know, DUIs are—you don’t see too many doctors or nurses going out there and committing robberies, or anything like that, so . . .

Lorie Brown
I hope not.

Marc Lopez
You’re absolutely right. The DUI—traditionally with criminal law, you had to have what’s called a mens rea—you wanted to commit a crime. So you went out, and you wanted to punch somebody—you wanted to do a bad act. 

With a DUI—for the most part—you didn’t intend on going out that night and getting intoxicated and driving. We have cases, where people are .085, .083, .09. Had they waited 15-20 minutes to drive, they would have been under the legal limit. 

They call DUIs a status offense. You’re not an evil person if you get a DUI, and that’s why you see DUIs going across the whole board—doctors, nurses, lawyers, even some judges—and it doesn’t make you a bad person. 

Unfortunately, many places—like Indianapolis and other surrounding counties, as well—they take a very hard-line stance with you. So in some cases—if two people were to get into a fight at a bar, there’s actually a very good chance their case is gonna get dismissed if they’ve never been in trouble before. But the DUI? Well, we can’t dismiss those cases, because those are more serious. How is it more serious? The person didn’t mean to do it. 

It’s a very difficult situation. A lot of people, such as nurses, doctors, lawyers—any kind of professional—this happens to them, and they feel like they’re being treated very roughly, and I can understand that.

Lorie Brown
Yeah, and nurses are terrified. Their whole identity is based on their job, and when they have a brush with the law, they just feel like their life is over. Or if they have a brush with discipline at work, or even the board. So there’re some things that we can do to prevent this, right?

Marc Lopez
Absolutely.

Lorie Brown
And we’re very concerned with things opening back up after quarantine. Here’s some words of wisdom that Marc’s put together to share with you to prevent this from happening to you.

Marc Lopez
So this started with an email exchange between Lorie and me, and then we figured this’d be easier to talk about. Right now I feel like Indiana has basically been on quarantine since mid-March. And so today, Indianapolis’ restaurants are allowed to be 50% occupancy. Some of the surrounding counties—since maybe last week—they’re doing the same thing. 

Today, I got a Facebook meme and an Instagram post, and there was a really cool photo, and it said, “Restaurants can only have 50% occupancy. That means you have to drink three times as many drinks, or you shouldn’t even be going out.” And it was made in jest, and it’s supposed to be funny, and the servers are struggling, restaurants are struggling—but the reality is, people have been at home. 

I think people that would not normally drink at 10:00, 11:00, maybe 1:00 in the afternoon—if I’m at home, I can’t go anywhere—so I feel like some people have been drinking a little bit differently than they were before quarantine. And my concern is—

Lorie Brown
It’s called a quarantini.

Marc Lopez
—that people have their tolerances built up. What were you gonna say, Lorie? I didn’t mean to interrupt you.

Lorie Brown
I was just joking. I called it a quarantini.

Marc Lopez
Yeah, a quarantini!

Lorie Brown
Yeah.

Marc Lopez
I know my wife and I—we were staying at home, we had some quarantinis at lunchtime. But my concern is when you drink alcohol, the more you drink, the higher tolerance you get. And so, people going back out to the bars, they’re experiencing—Well, hey, I’ve had three drinks. I feel fine to drive. And in many cases, they may pass the field sobriety test—but they’re still above .08. 

So if you get pulled over for a tail light violation, or you don’t come to a full and complete stop—you do a rolling stop—all of a sudden you have an officer asking you about alcohol consumption, and you’re getting taken down for a blood test or a breath test. And people are literally like, I didn’t feel drunk. 

And you know, depending how often you drink, you may not have been intoxicated. But Indiana has two versions of a DUI. One is a physical manifestation of intoxication, and the other one is—are you above the legal limit? And I’ve seen cases—not nurses or anything like that, but I’ve seen cases—people pass the field sobriety tests, but their breath comes out .30. And you have officers like, I don’t understand. This machine must be broken. And they get a blood test. 

You talk to these people, they’ve been drinking every day for 15-20 years, and they didn’t feel intoxicated. They were probably okay to drive, but they got pulled over for a tail light. So, the extra confidence coming out of quarantine—that’s my first issue. 

The second issue is, a lot of people have been making really strong drinks at home. And so I’m concerned that some people are gonna get to the restaurants and be like, Oh, that was weak. Let me have another one. I worry about everybody. I don’t want anyone to get DUIs. 

On top of all this, Uber and Lyft are still operating, but I mean—who wants to get in a car with some person that you don’t know is healthy or safe? There’s no easy answers for this. I want people to go out and support my restaurants, because I want my restaurants there. But I also want them to be careful drinking and easing back into things. Don’t just jump into it.

Lorie Brown
Well, what’s interesting about this time is that the liquor stores are considered essential, and in other states where dispensaries are legal, people wanna indulge, because there’s nothing else to do. I mean, except for Netflix. 

It’s normal that people would want to drink. They may drink a little bit more, they’re home, they’re comfortable. But it does have ramifications—not only a potential DUI, should you choose to get behind the wheel, but also with your health. So just be careful, and you don’t want to have a positive screen at work, because that’s a huge problem—both at work and before the board.

Marc Lopez
Oh, yeah.

Lorie Brown
So just knowing that we’re in a time of transition as things start opening up—be careful, protect yourself. If you have been drinking at home, just take it easy. Don’t drink out and be smart.

Marc Lopez
Lorie, that’s excellent advice. While the DUIs have been generally down for the last two months, the few cases that have been filed, I’ve noticed a pattern—people were drinking at home. and they went out to the store. They went out and did something and—like you said at the beginning of this, I don’t want anyone to get in trouble. 

Anybody watching this—please, ease back into the restaurant scene. Just be careful drinking and whatnot, and recognize if you have been drinking while you’re in quarantine—that’s awesome, so have I—just don’t be overconfident with your driving, because your safety is number one. Your job and respect in the community—those are things you don’t wanna jeopardize just to get back out there too fast.

Lorie Brown
And even if you feel safe to drive, all the research has shown that your reflexes are impaired, even if you don’t feel it. So just be careful out there. You’re a healthcare professional, use your judgment, and be safe.

Marc Lopez
Lorie, that’s an excellent point. The way they treat alcohol crimes—they treat them so harshly in this part of the State—but when you drink alcohol, it impairs your judgment. And so immediately you start thinking, Well, I’m not that intoxicated. And so it’s just a slippery slope. 

I would never tell anybody never drive after having a drink, but my rule of thumb is, I have two drinks, and then I stop. And these aren’t 15% beers in these giant jugs. I’m the biggest nerd ever. I go to the restaurant and I say, I want a Diet Coke and a separate shot. And I get made fun of ruthlessly by my friends—even my wife—but I know what I’m pouring in there, and I know exactly what I’ve had to drink. I don’t think anybody has to go to that extreme, but just be careful out there, and look out for each other.

Lorie Brown
Yeah, and speaking of judgment, I hear a lot of nurses say, Well, it was on my off-time. Why does this have anything to do with my license? And Marc said it exactly. It’s judgment, and it does have to do with your license, because whether you care or not, you’re a nurse 24/7. Your actions reflect on the profession. So be the professional you are, and use good judgment.

Marc Lopez
That’s great advice, look at that.

Lorie Brown
And I have to share—Marc has the most amazing, brilliant advertising method. Do you have it?

Marc Lopez
I’m gonna go grab it.

Lorie Brown
Is this amazing or what?

Marc Lopez
I like it—

Lorie Brown
It’s brilliant.

Marc Lopez
—I’m not gonna lie.

Lorie Brown
It’s a mask—

Marc Lopez
Cool logo, too.

Lorie Brown
—”I plead the Fifth”—with his logo, and I think that is brilliant.

Marc Lopez
You always make me smile, Lorie. You have so much love, and I feel it, so I appreciate it.

Lorie Brown
Oh, well, I just think it’s brilliant, and what a great way to give back to the community—by keeping people safe with something that they need and also sharing about your firm, as well. So, it’s fantastic.

Marc Lopez
Thank you.

Lorie Brown
So everybody—I hope you were able to learn from this and be safe. You can reach us at Brown Law Office, yournurseattorney.com, and Marc has his information on the screen. Hopefully you won’t need us, and hopefully you’ll take what we say to heart, but really—your safety is our priority.

Marc Lopez
Absolutely.

Lorie Brown
Bye, everybody.

Marc Lopez
Thank you, Lorie. Bye! Bye, everybody.

Lorie Brown
Bye.