Morphine Drug Driving Solicitors

Drug Driving & Morphine

(a prescription opioid painkiller)

Morphine is different to many drug driving cases we defend. It’s a legal, prescribed medicine for serious or chronic pain, meaning a positive blood result doesn’t automatically mean you’ve done something wrong.

If you were taking morphine on prescription and following the directions you were given, you may have a complete defence. Before you accept guilt, you’re fully entitled to check any evidence against you, and speak to a specialist drug driving solicitor.

If you’ve been charged with drug driving after a morphine reading, or you’re waiting for your blood results to come back, call us for free initial advice. We’ve defended hundreds of drug driving cases and we know exactly where police and CPS cases can be challenged.

What is the legal limit for morphine?

The legal limit for morphine is 80 micrograms per litre of blood (80µg/L), one of the higher limits set under Section 5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

When drug driving limits were introduced by the Government back in 2015, it created two groups.

Illegal drugs like cocaine and cannabis were given a ‘zero tolerance’ limit, set low to catch small traces. Prescription drugs were treated differently, rightly so because millions of people take drugs on prescription, safely, every day and still need to drive.

These drugs were assigned a “risk” basis instead of zero tolerance, meant to reflect where your driving might genuinely be impaired.

But while the limit is higher for prescription drugs like morphine, a single dose can put you close to or above the legal limit. In one study, a single 12mg intravenous dose of morphine recorded a peak concentration of 44µg/L44µg/L within two minutes, so higher or repeated doses (even taken exactly as prescribed) could put you at or over the limit.

Which is where a lot of people get stuck.

What is morphine?

Morphine is a strong opioid painkiller, regarded as the best for managing severe or chronic pain, which is why it’s used in hospitals, in palliative care and after serious injury or post-surgery.

It acts directly on your central nervous system, blocking pain signals to create a calming, sedative effect.

You might have heard morphine referred to as other names like Duramorph or street names like ‘M’, ‘Junk’, ‘Morpho’, or ‘Vitamin M’.

It’s also a metabolite in codeine and heroine, so you can return a positive morphine reading on a blood test even if you’ve never taken it directly.

How morphine affects your driving

Courts worry about the effects of morphine because the things that make it effective as a painkiller (drowsiness, sedation, confusion, slowed reaction time, poor concentration, less coordination) are the things that make you a risk on the roads if you drive after taking it.

These effects depend a lot on you individually. If you’ve been taking morphine for a while under medical supervision, you could have built up a tolerance and show little or no impairment at a dose that would floor someone else.

This is the problem you’re facing when it comes to drug driving cases and morphine. Under Section 5A, the prosecution doesn’t have to prove impairment. You just had to be over the limit while driving.

Whether you were driving safely is something we look at in your defence.

How long does Morphine stay in your system?

This varies a lot person to person.

And while the half life of morphine is relatively short (two to four hours) it’s detectable for a lot longer than that as far as evidential tests go.

• Blood: Detectable for up to around 3 days
• Urine: Detectable for around 2-7 days
• Saliva: Detectable for around 2-7 days
• Hair: Detectable potentially months after you’ve taken it

A lot of this depends on the dose, how it was taken, how often you take morphine, your metabolism, age, weight and liver function.

Because your blood detection window is pretty short, the timing of your blood test (and how it’s stored and handled) is a key part of any potential defence.

Just remember. All the above is based on averages and can’t be used to work out how long you should wait before driving.

Morphine Drug Driving Defences

Every morphine case is different and finding the right defence depends on the individual facts of yours.

Many of these cases turn on having a lawful reason to have the drug in your blood, something not available for many drug driving cases.

When looking at your defence, these are some of the main points we look at:

Medical defence

The law gives you a statutory “medical defence” if all the following apply to your case:

• The morphine was prescribed or supplied to you for medical or dental purposes
• You took it following the direction of the person who prescribed or supplied it (and any instructions)
• Your possession was lawful

If we can find evidence for these points - a prescription, repeat prescription record, a statement from your GP or consultant - the CPS then has to prove this defence doesn’t apply.

And this is difficult when you have evidence on your side.

Codeine and metabolite issue

As we’ve said, morphine is produced when your body breaks down codeine and heroine. If you’ve taken a codeine-based painkiller (even bought over the counter) you could return a morphine reading.

We’ll look at exactly what you were taking, because the source of the reading can create medical defences or questions about the reliability of any evidentiary tests.

Challenging the blood results

You’re completely allowed to check the accuracy of any evidence produced against you. Including any lab results, which aren’t always 100% accurate.

Labs have to deduct a percentage from the measured result to allow for “normal analytical variation” and have to analyse your sample using an approved method, using properly calibrated equipment, by qualified staff.

The CPS has to disclose technical data behind your result, including the qualifications of the people doing your tests, so there’s always potential to challenge here.

Procedure and continuity

A key area to challenge in your morphine driving case is whether police followed the proper procedure when gathering evidence.

Documents like MGDDB and MGDDE take officers through the steps - consent, continuity, storage and reliability - and officers often get parts of this wrong.

Continuity is also important. Your blood sample can sit in storage for weeks or months before it’s analysed. If it’s not been stored or handled properly, we can challenge its reliability. If there’s any breakdown in procedure your case isn’t safe.

Consent

You must give clear, unconditional consent to your blood sample being taken. A medical professional should complete a HO/RT/5 consent certificate, which is time sensitive. If the CPS doesn’t serve it in time, or it’s properly rejected by the defence in the relevant period, the prosecution might not be able to prove consent.

What happens if you’re found guilty?

Although a conviction for driving with morphine in your system isn’t guaranteed, it’s important you understand the potential consequences if you are found guilty at court so you can at least make an informed decision about your case.

A conviction for drug driving could result in:

• A minimum 12 month driving ban
• An unlimited fine
• A criminal record

Get some free legal advice from MAJ Law

If you’ve been charged with drug driving after a morphine reading, or you’re waiting on your blood results, speak to our specialist morphine drug driving solicitors as soon as possible.

We believe every motoring has the right to independent legal advice, especially when prescription medication is involved and offer free initial advice to anyone who contacts us.

If you were prescribed morphine, or a codeine based medicine, that could be the foundation of your defence. Get in touch today and let us fight your corner.