Driving under the influence of the drug .. “The prescription” does not exempt from responsibility

The New Federal Traffic Law, which came into effect last March, stressed the penalty of driving the vehicle under the influence of drugs, with imprisonment and a fine of up to 200 thousand dirhams and stopping the work of the driving license for six months the first time, and a year the second time, and canceling it the third time.

For his part, the legal advisor, Dr. Youssef Al -Sharif, confirmed to «Emirates Today» that the legislator tightened the punishment for this crime, given its severe danger to the road users and their safety, stressing that the driver’s pregnancy for a prescription allows him to use the drug or the mental effect for the purpose of treatment, does not exempt him from legal responsibility and the penalty of driving the vehicle under the influence of the drug.

In detail, during the past years, state courts witnessed several cases of drivers accused of driving a vehicle under the influence of narcotic drugs, and causing various traffic accidents that resulted in injuries and material damage of varying impact. The state’s roads, last year, witnessed 45 incidents, due to the driving of the vehicle under the influence of alcohol, narcotic substances and psychotropic substances, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Interior for traffic accidents, according to its causes.

According to the previous traffic law, it is punishable by imprisonment and a fine of no less than 20 thousand dirhams, or one of these two penalties, whoever drives a vehicle or begins to drive them on the road while he is under the influence of alcoholic drinks or narcotic substances and the like.

The crime of driving the vehicle is also punished under the influence of narcotic substances or psychotropic substances, or the like, by reserving the vehicle for a period of 60 days for the light vehicle, and stopping the license for a year starting from the date of the end of the punishment, while the court decides the financial fine.

While the new traffic law tightened the punishment, and the traffic control authority gave the authority to arrest any vehicle driver if he was caught in a captivity under the influence of alcoholic beverages, or any of the narcotic substances, mental effects, or the like, and that he loses the ability to control them.

The new law stipulated that it is punished with imprisonment and a fine of no less than 30 thousand dirhams and not more than 200 thousand dirhams or one of these two penalties, whoever leads a vehicle or begins to drive it on the road while he is under the influence of narcotic substances or mental effects and the like, and the court must stop the work of the driving license for a period of no less than six months in the first time, and a year the second time, and cancel them the third time.

It is also punished with imprisonment and a fine of no less than 50 thousand dirhams, or one of these two penalties, whoever makes a mistake in the death of a person as a result of using a vehicle on the road. The penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of no less than a year, a fine of no less than 100 thousand dirhams, or one of these two penalties if the act occurs in the case of driving the vehicle under the influence of alcoholic drinks, narcotic substances, mental effects and the like.

The legal advisor, Dr. Youssef Al -Sharif, stressed that driving vehicles under the influence of narcotic substances and mental effects are legally punishable, and the punishment in these cases has stressed, especially due to the seriousness of this crime and the legislator’s keenness to limit them.

He explained that even if the use of narcotic substances or psychotropic substances under a prescription, this does not exempt from legal responsibility if caused by an accident, but rather that the pathological condition, as a result of which narcotic substances or psychotropic substances were prescribed as a treatment for them, the first and it is better to prevent and prohibit driving under the influence of these substances or effects because the risk here is certain and information necessarily, considering that the leadership in this case is under the perception of the perception is the symptom of the disease and the effect of the effect of the disease Martal or mental effects, and therefore leadership under the influence of these two exhibitors is more dangerous, and therefore driving under the influence of narcotic substances or psychotropic substances does not exempt from punishment, as the treatment is not a mitigating excuse, but rather it is obligatory to confirm the doctor when issuing medical prescriptions that include these substances and effects of the danger of driving, and warning the patient against its consequences.

He pointed out that the provisions of the judiciary in the state have been repeated not to consider the presence of a prescription that exempts or reduces the punishment, as well as the flyers issued by the Public Prosecution, whether federal or local, which confirm that medical prescriptions do not exempt or reduce the penalty for driving crime under the influence of narcotic substances or psychotropic substances.

Regarding that driving vehicles under the influence of narcotic substances or mental effects involve two crimes, the first “abuse” is an independent crime, the Sharif was alerted that their punishment was mentioned in the decree of a federal law No. (30) of 2021 regarding the fight against narcotic substances and mental effects amended by decree by a federal law No. (53) of 2022, and decreed by a federal law No. (53) for a year 2023. As for the second crime “leadership under the influence of narcotic substances”, it was mentioned in the text of Article (35/2) of the Traffic and Traffic Law in force in the state and issued by Decree Law No. (14) of 2024.

He pointed out that if the prescription is exempt from punishment for the crime of abuse of the text of the law, it does not exempt or reduce the penalty for the crime of leadership under the influence of narcotic substances or mental effects, but that abuse may be punished despite the presence of the prescription in some cases, such as taking an overdose of the prescribed dose, and if the abuse in the law concerned that may exempt or reduce the punishment raises this exemption or mitigating in cases of consideration The seriousness of the crime, therefore it is the first to consider the prescription that does not exempt or reduce the penalty prescribed for the crime of leadership under the influence of these materials or effects, and does not obtain from that the absence of an explicit text in the law regulating traffic and traffic, because the opposite is the correct one, as the text of Article (35/2) has come an absolute year with the impact and punishment for driving under the influence of narcotic substances or mental effects without excluding the case of a prescription, and therefore it is not allocated from The text without an explicit exception, not the other way around.

We do not see that there is an exaggeration that the leadership can be considered under the influence of these substances and effects under a prescription that makes the crime intentional, because despite the person’s knowledge of his illness and the effect of materials and effects in it, he led the vehicle in the event of exposure to persons and property, which is an implicit crime and is punishable by Article (399) of the Crime and Penalms Law, which is punished with imprisonment and fine or one of these two penalties who committed intentionally committed it Ending people’s lives, health, security, or freedoms at risk.

Finally, among the consequences of the crime of leadership under the influence of any of the narcotic substances or mental effects, even under a prescription, the insurance companies do not cover their consequences if the coverage is made to others, and it has a return to the believer (the driver of the vehicle) under the influence of narcotic substances or mental effects even if it is under a prescription.