It actually is a crime to drive not just under the influence of Vicodin, Oxycodone, and those sorts of things as it is with any controlled substance, if you’re under the influence of it, you can be prosecuted for doing so. Now, it’s a little weird because, of course, when a doctor prescribes you medication, the doctor actually expects you to be under the influence of it. If the doctor’s prescribing you and doesn’t expect you to be under the influence of it, we usually think of that as malpractice. Why are you giving me something if it isn’t gonna help? So the under the influence is a difficult side of the prosecution with regard to prescription medications. But the other side of that is that because the Valium and Oxycodone and those sorts of things also appear on the Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of controlled substances in Minnesota, it’s actually a crime to drive with the detectable presence of that in your system.

So when a doctor gives you a prescription for something on Schedule 1 or Schedule 2, I suppose theoretically they should be telling you, “Oh, by the way, it’s illegal for you to drive a car.” Now we get the prescription bottle and it says, “Don’t operate heavy machinery until you know how this is going to affect you.” And, of course, if it doesn’t affect you in that way, you feel it’s okay for you to drive. But if you are stopped, if you’re in a little fender bender and an officer asks you, “Have you been taking any drugs” and you say, “Well, just the stuff my doctor prescribed”, if they find the detectable presence of a Schedule 1 or a Schedule 2 controlled substance in your system, you will be prosecuted for DWI, even if the fender bender wasn’t your fault at all.