WARNING!! DUI from mentholated e-juice

[E Money]

Get a lawyer, bring evidence to the courtroom (same device, atty, juice), bring a breathalyzer, bring whatever other evidence you can get, dress respectful.

If you can show the judge exactly what you were doing and what effect menthol juice has on breathalyzers you should be able to win. The cost of a lawyer and breathalyzer will be much better in the long term than having a DUI on your record.

CHP are some sticklers though. Lived in CA for 20 years and was taught at a young age to watch out for them. Good luck!

 

[SissySpike]

California is a awesome state. California is also a perfect example of gooberment gone wrong. Ive thought about living there but trading my freedoms for some nice surroundings is not an option.

 

[CommaHolly]

Did you demand a blood test? It's your right to request one.

this. It's exactly what I would have done.

 

[wheezal]

i know in Texas, the handheld breathalyzers aren't admissible because they are also terribly inaccurate.


any lawyer worth his salt will be laughing at how easy it will be to get this dismissed. and knowing prosecutors, when it hits their desk, and then a lawyers shows up fighting it...it wont take long at all.


the trick will be if you can get re-imbursed for expenses for an obviously fraudulent citation and towing fees.

 

[riseabovethestorm]

hello guys,
i am an avid vaper. im 19 years old from the US, i love RDA's with mechs, love blowin clouds, love not smoking analogs.

on saturday night, i was driving back from santa barbara with my friends at 2:00 pm dripping a menthol juice from a local company. I was pulled over by a trainee chp officer and his teacher because i was speeding (75 mph on a 65 at 2:00 am).

the officer told me to step out of the car because he smelled "alcohol". He asked me to do a few testes, i passed them all.

then i took a brethalizer test. it came up as a "BAC" of 0.01 (yep 0.01, not 0.10). he asked me why i lied to him and i told him (truthfully) that i did not drink anything and that i was the designated driver.

he towed my car, gave me a dui ticket and a speeding ticket and i was fully cooperative throughout the whole process.

i did some research and found out that mint gum, or breath mints, toothpaste, mouthwash, can all throw off a breathalizer test by 0.12 (thats right, not 0.012.....but 0.12).

how could the test be thrown off? It said that menthol and alchohol are read the same exact way with the chp standard issue breathalizer.

i dont brush my teeth (jk), i brushed and used mouthwash about 5 hours before i was pulled over, so this was too long ago to be a factor.

IT WAS THE MENTHOL JUICE!!! i was vapin this stuff all day! shure enough, i tested my friend's parent's breathalizer and i blew a 0.10% "bac" about a minute after exhaling the vapor. a 0.09% "bac" about 15 minutes after exhaling the menthol vape. and a 0.01 after an hour!

i know that this breathalizer was not as accurate as the police issue, but all of the chemistry makes sence to show that the police issued breathalizer would come up with the same results under the same conditions.

When the user exhales into a breathalyzer, any ethanol present in their breath is oxidized to acedic acid at the anode:
CH₃CH₂OH(g) + H₂O(l) → CH₃CO₂H(l) + 4H⁺(aq) + 4e^-
At the cathode, atmospheric oxygen is reduced:
O₂(g) + 4H⁺(aq) + 4e^- → 2H₂O(l)
The overall reaction is the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid and water.
CH₃CH₂OH(l) + O₂(g) → CH₃COOH(l) + H₂O(l)
The electric current produced by this reaction is measured by a microprocessor, and displayed as an approximation of overall "bac"
People who have drunk alcohol will release special gases. It will approach silica gel of strong oxidizing agent K₂Cr₂O₇. If the released gas contains ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH) steam, ethanol will be oxidized by chromium trioxide to form acetaldehyde. Meanwhile, CrO3 is restored as acetic acid [CH₃COOH]

this means that both acetone and ethanol will be detected from police issued infared brethalyzer tests. if you have been dieting (below recomended daily caloric intake) your breathalyzer detected "bac" can be up to aproximatley 0.06 daily because of the acetone let out of your lungs after your body burns fat.

this also means that any substance containing ethanol will show up on a brethalyzer. this can be seen in gum, breath mints, and mouthwash. (they even showed this on the shows "Manswers" and "Mythbusters"). this includes mentholated ejuices that contain ethanol.

i was vaping AzureVaping's "smooth". their menthol flavors are created from menthol crystals dissolved in ethanol. this makes complete sence.


This is not a problem for people in australia because they give a 20% tolerance and recognize the inacuracy of these tests. 23% of people get an inacurate "bac" reading from breathalyzers.

THIS IS JUST A WARNING GUYS. BE READY TO DEFEND YOURSELF IN THIS SITUATION. i will appear in court with scientific evidence on the 6th of december.

It's not going to be easy, but if you offer that argument, replete with the science aspect, you may stand a good chance. Granted, you live in the Peoples Republic of California, so they may be a little more ....-ish than cops up here in Michigan.

 

[UnclePsyko]

Yup, like stated before, spend the $! Da's are liars just like cops. If they really believed you don't need a lawyer, then they wouldn't waste the time bringing it into the courtroom. They would either throw it out, or try to make a deal with you

Yes, and no... DA's are elected positions and as such, they need to keep their "Batting average" and "ERA" up to have an appealing conviction record for the next election cycle. Sometimes, they will try the perceived easy case to pad their average, so to say.
Seems that in this case. the DA is trying to "Steal 2nd"...
yeah, a lot of baseball analogies...

I take it you guys were over at Isla Vista?


If possible try to demonstrate the ecig and it's ability to make the detector think there is alcohol in your system in court. First make sure you will get 100% negative and use the device. Then do some vaping right in front of them, then blow again in the device, which should register a BAC. I think that alone could help a lot.

This could end up backfiring in your beautiful state, just giving them more ammo as to why these "Dangerous" devices need strict regulations or being banned outright. Just look at the CASAA Call to Action banner at the top of the page^. They're planning on even more strict legislation tonight in your state!
I can hear it now...
Oh my GOD!!! They're poisoning our precious little babies with ALCOHOL in there!
Just my thought... go with the easy out and get them on the unwarranted/bad paperwork thing IMHO.

Though the lawyers may have your best interest in mind, I would think that the DA would want as many convictions on his record as possible...

If it were me I would get a good lawyer.

Exactly!!!

*Disclaimer*
I'm no lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

 

[soba1]

Wow man, but you have in your favor that you passed the field sobriety tests.
No alcohol smell, what jerks......
They knew you werent drunk

 

[cmdebrecht]

I am curious, cousin, did they take you to the station and all that stuff? Did you have to "sober up" in a holding tank? Did they give you any other tests at the station?

 

[abstractcousin]

immensely interesting post. I haven't read through this whole thread but i wanted to add that PG and VG are both alcohols. They aren't intoxicating, but they are indeed alcohols.

this makes complete sence. thank you.

 

[abstractcousin]

Yes, and no... DA's are elected positions and as such, they need to keep their "Batting average" and "ERA" up to have an appealing conviction record for the next election cycle. Sometimes, they will try the perceived easy case to pad their average, so to say.
Seems that in this case. the DA is trying to "Steal 2nd"...
yeah, a lot of baseball analogies...


This could end up backfiring in your beautiful state, just giving them more ammo as to why these "Dangerous" devices need strict regulations or being banned outright. Just look at the CASAA Call to Action banner at the top of the page^. They're planning on even more strict legislation tonight in your state!
I can hear it now...
Oh my GOD!!! They're poisoning our precious little babies with ALCOHOL in there!
Just my thought... go with the easy out and get them on the unwarranted/bad paperwork thing IMHO.


Exactly!!!

*Disclaimer*
I'm no lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

hahaha yea well facts are facts. they can do whatever they want with cold hard evidence. if they decide to then ban ecigs or something just because certain juices throw off already inacurate breathalyzer tests than thats another story that i will not be worried about. highly unlikely. id rather not have a dui on my record for years to come than worry about them banning ecigs for some dumb reason. we are already worried about that.

 

[abstractcousin]

I am curious, cousin, did they take you to the station and all that stuff? Did you have to "sober up" in a holding tank? Did they give you any other tests at the station?

no they did not.

 

[wheezal]

in many states, i'm not sure about the OP's, DUI has shifted legally and become the term to deal with underage drinking....allowing police to cite any youth without the hassle of jail time and a nasty courtroom appearance. DWI is the more tried and true, arrested for drinking and driving that is aimed at adults.

 

[Dac311]

I have a CDL class A, every single company I have ever worked for the only acceptable BAC is 0.00! You drive an 80,000lb vehicle, you better not have ANY alcohol in your system!

Any detectable amount of alcohol means grounded for 24 hrs. You don't get a DUI until .04. That's from usdot.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[jimbill]

I think op needs to watch that episode of mythbusters again they were trying to beat the dui test with breath mint chewing gum and penny's ect not that there was alcohol in menthol.

 

[tonyg773]

I issue breathalizer tests to people all the time in the Navy and I have exhaled my menthol vapor directly into a breathalizer and it did not register anything.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

I am interning at a probation office, so I'm pretty familiar with PBT(breathalyzer)s. Basically, the PBT will read anything that is unnatural in the mouth. If you smoke an analog right before, chew gum, eat bread, even drink some energy drinks right before you take a breathalyzer, it will show up as a positive test. We had a staff meeting and one of the clerical women was chewing gum, so we gave it a test. She blew a 0.07!

As for this case, a DUI over 0.01 is a bit of a stretch. I'm assuming the OP is under 21.

 

[dwarfcat]

I am interning at a probation office, so I'm pretty familiar with PBT(breathalyzer)s. Basically, the PBT will read anything that is unnatural in the mouth. If you smoke an analog right before, chew gum, eat bread, even drink some energy drinks right before you take a breathalyzer, it will show up as a positive test. We had a staff meeting and one of the clerical women was chewing gum, so we gave it a test. She blew a 0.07!

As for this case, a DUI over 0.01 is a bit of a stretch. I'm assuming the OP is under 21.

her response "o wow, yea look at that........the darn gum did this"