The American Chemical Society Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Course

Dear attorney friends and colleagues,

What have you done to future-proof your DUI practice? The times are changing. Drug-related DUI enforcement is the way of the future. In a short time, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) cases will start to outnumber DUI ethanol cases. If your knowledge isn’t greater and your experience is not ahead of the LEO’s and prosecutors, that is how injustice can come about in the courtroom. Defense attorneys are entrusted to be that all important final check on the science in the courtroom. How can you be an external quality assurance officer for criminal laboratories if you don’t understand the science?

Without a doubt jurisdictions are increasing their detection and enforcement efforts when it comes to drug-impaired driving. That can be a good thing. Not one of us, I imagine, is in favor of truly dangerous pharmacodynamically impaired drivers on the road. But it is a human disaster of Fukushima-like proportions for the motorist accused and his or her family if there is only the veneer of science that is applied to the problem of impaired driving. Too frequently we see that is exactly what happens in the courtroom, there is only the filmiest bit of science behind the opinions that are offered. It is a human disaster when people who are not guilty are invalidly labelled as guilty by bad science.

What have you done to issue spot those problems and help those who have entrusted you with all that they have?

Recently, that huge question was answered by a few great lawyers. On January 16, 2014 all of that began to change. A brand new course was offered through the American Chemical Chemical Society and by Axion Analytical Laboratories, Inc. It is a hands-on GC-MS class that focuses on DUID cases exclusively. It also has one and a half days of intense training in pharmacology (PK/PD). There is no other course like it in the world.

Current “ACS Forensic Drug and Alcohol Lawyer Certificate” Recipients:

First Name Last Name State
Michael Bruckheim DC
Michael Cohen WI
Nathan Dineen WI
Steven Hamilton TX
Steven Hernandez NJ
Katherine Kennedy PA
Josh Lee OK
Justin McShane PA
Tad Nelson TX
Greg Oberhauser MA
John Thurston KS
Sarah Toney IL

These people listed above have completed the at least 80 hours of hands-on forensic training offered in cooperation with Axion Analytical Laboratories, Inc.

You are invited to this class. When you finish this class, you will know more than any other expert that you come across in the courtroom in these matters. You will be properly armed not just with studies but most importantly with actual fundamental and bedrock knowledge into the theory and the practice of how it all works. You will process samples (both extraction and derivatization) and use the GC-MS to identify drugs in biological matrices just like a crime laboratory should be doing. You will see emerging technology like the Drager 5000DT oral fluid tester and learn about its false positives and negatives. You will learn how to interpret medical records when it comes to pharmacodynamics.

This course is about science. It is about valid science. It is about justice. It is a game-changer. It will both future proof your practice and promote true justice.

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