Let’s look at a topic that doesn’t receive enough attention in Indiana—DUIs that don’t revolve around alcohol. It might surprise you to learn that you can be charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated even if you haven’t been drinking. How does this work? The important thing to remember is that there are many ways for a person to become impaired.
What Counts as Intoxication?
Drunkenness is just one form of intoxication, so let’s start this where it starts. Indiana defines intoxicated as being under the influence of:
- alcohol;
- a controlled substance (as defined in Indiana Code section 35-48-1);
- a drug other than alcohol or a controlled substance;
- a substance described in Indiana Code section 35-46-6-2 (inhaling toxic vapors) or Indiana Code section 35-46-6-3 (nonmedical distribution of nitrous oxide);
- a combination of the substances described above; or
- any other substance (not including food, food ingredients, tobacco, or a dietary supplement);
so that there is an impaired condition of thought and action and the loss of normal control of a person’s faculties. This is a very expansive definition.
Click here to learn more about DUIs that don’t involve alcohol.
