CNS Depressants and Drugged Driving

The category of CNS Depressants includes some of the most commonly abused drugs. Alcohol – the most familiar drug of all – is abused by an estimated 40-50 million Americans.

Most Of Us Drink

• Slightly more than half of Americans age 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in 2014 (52.7% of the population). This translates to an estimated 139 million people. Source: Behavioral Health Trends in the United States: Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, September 2015)

Depressants Are Widely Abused

• Depressant drugs consistently rank among the most widely used and abused drugs in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past decade, doctors prescribed an estimated 60 million prescriptions for minor tranquilizers in U.S. pharmacies. Source: Downers: A New Look at Depressant DrugsDepressants slow down the operation of the central nervous system (i.e., the brain, brain stem and spinal cord).
  • Cause the user to react more slowly.
  • Cause the user to process information more slowly.
  • Relieve anxiety and tension.
  • Induce sedation, drowsiness and sleep.
  • In high enough doses, CNS Depressants will produce general anesthesia, i.e. depress the brain’s ability to sense pain, and in very high doses, they can induce coma and death.

Call Us If You Face A Drugged Driving Charge

If you or a friend need an OVI attorney, please contact me at (937) 318-1384 or 888-ROWLAND. If you need help after hours, call or text me at (937) 776-2671. Email me at CharlesRowland@CharlesRowland.com. Letter? 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324. Smoke signals and airplane messages hung anywhere over the Miami Valley are good. If you wish to float a message, the Beaver Creek runs directly behind my office and I can see it from my desk.  “All I do is DUI defense.”