How do police determine whether a driver is impaired by over-the-counter drugs rather than alcohol?
Answer:
Yes, over-the-counter medication can lead to a DUI arrest. Ultimately, it comes down to an officer’s discretion in judging whether someone appears impaired. Many over-the-counter medications can produce behaviors that look like impairment to an officer, which may be enough to justify an arrest — even if the charge doesn’t ultimately hold up in court. If you find yourself in this situation, give us a call so we can help.
Same Legal Standard, No Prescription Involved
Georgia’s DUI statute makes it illegal to drive under the influence of “any drug” to the extent it makes you less safe, and that language doesn’t carve out an exception for medication you can buy without a prescription. Whether something came from a pharmacist behind the counter or off the shelf next to it makes no legal difference — the only question is whether it affected your ability to drive.
Common OTC Medications That Show Up in DUI Cases
Several everyday medicine-cabinet staples come up repeatedly in these cases: antihistamines like Benadryl, multi-symptom cold and cough medicines containing dextromethorphan, and over-the-counter sleep aids. All of them can cause drowsiness, slowed reaction time, or impaired coordination — the exact kinds of effects officers are trained to watch for.
Why “Non-Drowsy” Labels Don’t Guarantee Anything
Even products marketed as non-drowsy can produce subtle effects on attention and coordination in some people, and those effects compound when combined with alcohol or another medication. A driver who feels completely normal after taking something labeled non-drowsy isn’t necessarily performing at their normal baseline on a field sobriety test.
It Really Does Come Down to the Officer’s Judgment Call
Unlike prescription drugs, over-the-counter medication comes with no doctor’s evaluation, no dosage oversight beyond the package instructions, and no registry of who’s taking what. That means there’s even less structure around an OTC-related DUI arrest than a prescription one — it’s built almost entirely on one officer’s read of your appearance and performance in the moment.
Why These Arrests Are Often Weaker Than They Look
Because over-the-counter medications are so widely used and their effects are often mild or borderline, an arrest built on this kind of impairment claim frequently rests on thinner evidence than a case involving illegal drugs or a high breath alcohol result. That doesn’t mean the charge goes away on its own, but it does mean the underlying evidence deserves close scrutiny.
What to Do Next
If you find yourself in this situation, give us a call so we can help.
