The Limits of Chemical Certainty: The Auto-Brewery Syndrome & DWI Charges Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS) remains a bit of a theoretical curiosity. It represents a measurable biochemical anomaly during which yeast or bacteria residing in the gastrointestinal tract convert carbohydrates into ethanol within the human body. Though somewhat rare, it is…
Should Eyelid Tremor Be Used to Prove Cannabis Impairment in North Carolina? For years, the Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) protocol has relied on a structured set of physical observations to evaluate suspected drug impairment. Among these, the presence of eyelid tremor has been taught as a supposed sign of recent…
The North Carolina Court of Appeals’ recent decision in State v. Ruffin, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Mar. 5, 2025), provides guidance on marijuana identification in the post-hemp era. The defendant in Ruffin was convicted of multiple drug offenses, including the sale and delivery of marijuana, arising from a controlled buy…