Driving Under the Influence of Narcotics — Article 276 and Its Penalty Tiers
A traffic crime committed under the influence of a narcotic, psychotropic or new psychoactive substance is governed by Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, and in the eyes of the law this circumstance especially aggravates liability: for the same conduct that carries a comparatively mild form of penalty when committed sober, the penalty under the influence of a substance is sharply higher. At the same time, the evidentiary base of such a case is specific — establishing intoxication depends on medical conclusions — and it is exactly there that the real possibilities of the defense open up.
Under the first part of the article, driving an automobile, tram, trolleybus, tractor or other mechanical transport vehicle under the influence of a narcotic, psychotropic or new psychoactive substance is punished by a fine, or house arrest for a term of six months to two years, or community service for a term of two hundred to four hundred hours, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years. This part is punishable in itself — without any consequence — and the fate of the case depends on establishing the fact of intoxication.