A new Wisconsin law aimed at penalizing drivers under the influence of drugs in the same manner that drunk drivers are prosecuted is under attack from some defense attorneys because it does not set a level of intoxication.

The law makes it illegal for drivers to have "any detectable amount" of drugs in their system. Defense attorneys say the fact the law penalizes drivers for the mere present of drugs in their system, without setting a blood level for intoxication like the drunk driving laws do, leaves it open to constitutional question, according to press reports.

"Unlike consumers of alcohol for which empirical evidence shows a relationship between blood level and impairment, drug users can be penalized for the mere use of a restricted substance even after considerable time has passed, so long as it is allegedly detected even under what is here an undefined standard," defense attorney Laurence M. Moon wrote in a case being prosecuted under the law. "This discrepancy is irrational."

But state prosecutors plan to strictly enforce the "Baby Luke" law, which was named after an infant who died from a car crash caused by a cocaine-using motorist. It went into effect December 19.

"We're taking the approach that these drivers should be placed at the high end of the sentencing range because we have no way of measuring impairment and because these drugs are illegal to begin with," said Walworth County District Attorney Phillip A. Koss.

More Information:

• Congress Launches New 'Stop DUI Caucus'
  
• Alcohol Impairs More Than Motor Skills
  
• Does the .08 BAC Standard Work?