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Let\u2019s begin with the most foundational, basic proposition of all: License appeals are about sobriety. More specifically, they are all about proving that you\u2019re sober, by the legally required standard of \u201cclear and convincing evidence.\u201d Before we get to that, however, it\u2019s critical to understand what sobriety really is, and, just as important, what it isn\u2019t<\/em>. At it\u2019s most basic, sobriety, in the context of license appeal cases, is the choice of a person to permanently refrain from the use of any and all intoxicating, mind-altering, or potentially habit-forming substances.<\/p>\nWhen someone has had his or her driver\u2019s license revoked after racking up 2 or more DUI\u2019s, the state concludes that he or she is a demonstrated risk when it comes to drinking and driving. We\u2019ll examine the law later in this piece, but the bottom line is that the law makes very clear that anyone who has lost his or her license for multiple DUI\u2019s can\u2019t get it back until they prove that they no longer drink or use any other substances, and that are committed to never drinking (or using any other drugs) again. Whatever else, it\u2019s a simple fact that people who no longer drink are zero risk to ever drive drunk again.<\/p>\n
People who don’t drink are the safest bet to put back on the road, and they are the only ones that the law allows to be reinstated after a revocation for multiple DUI\u2019s. It will be helpful for us to first look at the main rule<\/a> (Rule 13) governing driver\u2019s license appeals, and then we\u2019ll do a quick, plain-English interpretation of it to see, in simple terms, how the Michigan Secretary of State<\/a> applies it in the real world.<\/p>\n Here is the Rule 13:<\/p>\n The hearing officer shall not order that a license be issued to the petitioner unless the petitioner proves, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n i.\u00a0 \u00a0That the petitioner’s alcohol or substance abuse problems, if any, are under control and likely to remain under control.<\/strong><\/p>\n ii.\u00a0 That the risk of the petitioner repeating his or her past abusive behavior is a low or minimal risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n iii. That the risk of the petitioner repeating the act of operating a motor vehicle while impaired by, or under the influence of, alcohol or controlled substances or a combination of alcohol and a controlled substance or repeating any other offense listed in section 303(1)(d), (e), or (f) or (2)(c), (d), (e), or (f) of the act is a low or minimal risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n Iv.\u00a0 That the petitioner has the ability and motivation to drive safely and within the law.<\/strong><\/p>\n v.\u00a0 \u00a0Other showings that are relevant to the issues identified in paragraphs (i) to (iv) of this subdivision.<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, here is the simplified version of what you need to know from all of that:<\/p>\n 1. Under Michigan law, if you\u2019ve had your license revoked for multiple DUI\u2019s, you are legally categorized as a \u201chabitual alcohol offender\u201d and are presumed, by law, to have an alcohol and\/or substance abuse problem.<\/p>\n 2. The hearing officer is directed to NOT grant a license appeal unless the evidence and proofs submitted are both \u201cclear and convincing<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. You must show that your alcohol and\/or substance abuse problem is \u201cunder control.\u201d This means that you have to prove you have been COMPLETELY abstinent from alcohol and all other substances – including recreational marijuana – for a legally sufficient<\/em> period of time. Exactly how much can vary from case to case, but our firm generally requires every person to have at least <\/strong>18 months of clean and sober time before we\u2019ll move forward.<\/p>\n 4. You must also prove that your alcohol and\/or substance abuse problem is \u201clikely to remain under control.\u201d Translated, this means showing that have both the ability and the commitment to never drink or use any other substance – including recreational marijuana – again. Put another way, you\u2019ll have to show that you\u2019re a safe bet to remain clean and sober for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n Remember, the law carries a presumption that anyone who has had his or her license revoked for 2 or more DUI\u2019s has an alcohol (and\/or substance abuse) problem. In the clinical world, it is a given that a person cannot be in recovery from a drinking problem, but still use marijuana recreationally.<\/p>\n That\u2019s like saying someone had a real gambling problem and lost all of his or her money at the casino, but now all they do is go to the racetrack and bet on the horses, and that it\u2019s somehow okay.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not<\/em>.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that it does not matter one bit what the reader or I or anyone else may think about any of this, because that\u2019s just the way the law works. Whatever else, there is no chance<\/strong>\u00a0anyone is going to go in and argue that, even though the law<\/a> requires them to prove a \u201clegally sufficient\u201d period of abstinence from alcohol and all other substances, and even though it requires them to prove they\u2019re a safe bet to remain<\/em> abstinent, it can all be overlooked because they\u2019re different, or that recreational marijuana is some kind of exception.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not<\/em>.<\/p>\n My team and I<\/a> realize that marijuana is not a hardcore drug like Oxycontin, and we have heard, thousands of times over, the many reasons why people use it. We could debate these things forever, and even if we were inclined to agree with any or all of them, it doesn\u2019t matter. Unless a person can show that he or she DOESN\u2019T and WILL NEVER drink or use any other substances again, including recreational marijuana, then there\u2019s no way to win a Michigan driver\u2019s license restoration or clearance appeal case.<\/p>\n Period.<\/strong><\/p>\n For our part, we do side with the overwhelming majority of clinical thinking that \u201cclean and sober\u201d means abstinent from any and all substances.<\/p>\n Although it is not necessary to be in AA to win a license appeal, that program takes the mainstream (and the state\u2019s) view and considers true sobriety to be the state of refraining from the use of all substances, including recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n Being sober means not altering one\u2019s consciousness in any way. It does NOT mean just switching out the substance(s) one uses to do that.<\/p>\n In the the world of Michigan driver\u2019s license appeals<\/a>, medical marijuana is treated somewhat differently. That\u2019s a whole subject in its own right, but for our purposes here, we\u2019ll just note that the Michigan Secretary of State has very strict requirements for the use of medical marijuana by anyone filing a license restoration case.<\/p>\n Essentially, a person will need to demonstrate that there is no other suitable medical alternative to it for a serious health condition, and will also have to provide regularly updated documentation from his or her treating physician<\/strong>, and NOT the doctor he or she saw one time at some \u201cgreen clinic” just to get a card.<\/p>\n Circling back to recreational marijuana, the analysis is much simpler: it\u2019s a total, 100% no-go.<\/p>\n We\u2019d be missing an important part of all this if we didn\u2019t acknowledge that a lot of people mistakenly think they can file a license appeal<\/a> and just say<\/a> they don\u2019t smoke weed.<\/p>\n Beyond all the problems with trying to BS a hearing officer, that kind of thinking overlooks the very different mindsets of someone who understands that real sobriety requires abstaining from the use of alcohol and all other substances, and who is committed to living a sober lifestyle, compared to anyone who doesn\u2019t fully believe that.<\/p>\n To be clear, although our firm is in business to make money, we want NO part of any case if someone even thinks about lying about their sobriety or their use of recreational medical marijuana.<\/p>\n We guarantee to win<\/a> every case we take, but we also are only interested in taking case for people who are genuinely sober. Indeed, one of the very few exceptions to our guarantee is if we learn someone did lie about their alcohol or drug use.<\/p>\n For their part, the hearing officers<\/a> who decide license appeal cases are experts at detecting BS. They accept that they are going to get lied to every day, and understand their job requires really drilling down to make sure a person not only claims to be sober<\/a>, but can prove it<\/a> with the legally required \u201cclear and convincing evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The bottom line is that recreational marijuana and Michigan license restoration appeals are mutually exclusive. You can have one or the other, but not both.<\/p>\n If you are looking for a lawyer to win back your license or obtain the clearance of a Michigan hold on your driving record so that you can get licensed in another state, be a wise consumer and take the time to read around. This blog<\/a> is a great place to start, and with more than 640 fully searchable articles in the Driver\u2019s License Restoration<\/a> section, it has more useful information than you can find anywhere and everywhere else combined<\/strong>.<\/p>\n