Driving under the influence

Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor or Controlled or Prohibited Substance

1. NRS 484.379 Driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or controlled or prohibited substance: unlawful acts; affirmative defense; additional penalty for violation committed in work zone. [Effective until the date of the repeal of the federal law requiring each state to make it unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater as a condition to receiving federal funding for the construction of highways in this State.]

1. It is unlawful for any person who:

(a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor

(b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his blood or breath

(c) Is found by measurement within two hours after driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle to have a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his blood or breath

(d) To drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access

2. It is unlawful for any person who:

(a) Is under the influence of a controlled substance

(b) Is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance

(c) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, poison, or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any of these, to a degree which renders him incapable of safely driving or exercising actual physical control of a vehicle

(d) To drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access (The fact that any person charged with a violation of this subsection is or has been entitled to use that drug under the laws of this State is not a defense against any charge of violating this subsection)

3. It is unlawful for any person to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access with an amount of a prohibited substance in his blood or urine that is equal to or greater than:

Prohibited substance Urine Blood - Nanograms per milliliter

• (a) Amphetamine 500 per 100
• (b) Cocaine 150 per 50
• (c) Cocaine metabolite 150 per 50
• (d) Heroin 2,000 per 50
• (e) Heroin metabolite:
• (1) Morphine 2,000 per 50
• (2) 6-monoacetyl morphine 10 per 10
• (f) Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 per 10
• (g) Marijuana 10 per 2
• (h) Marijuana metabolite 15 per 5
• (i) Methamphetamine 500 per 100
• (j) Phencyclidine 25 per 10

4. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it is an affirmative defense under paragraph (c) of subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of alcohol after driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle, and before his blood or breath was tested, to cause him to have a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his blood or breath. A defendant who intends to offer this defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, not less than 14 days before the trial or hearing or at such other time as the court may direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a written notice of that intent.