ROBB, Judge.
Chad E. Hucker appeals his convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance, both Class C misdemeanors. Hucker raises a single issue for our review: whether Indiana Code section 9-30-5-1(c), which proscribes the operation of a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance, violates Article 1, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution (the "Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause"). Concluding the statute does not violate the Indiana Constitution's Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause, we affirm.
On the evening of September 17, 2012, Hucker went to the Save On Liquor Store in Huntington, Indiana, to purchase alcohol. Another patron in the store, Courtney Finney, saw Hucker and noticed that he was acting peculiarly. Hucker had slow, slurred speech. He was swaying back and forth and even lost his balance and fell at one point. Hucker left the liquor store after he was refused service. Shortly after, Finney left the store and witnessed Hucker in the parking lot, where he seemed to be struggling to get into his vehicle. Finney observed Hucker sit in his car for several minutes before driving out of the parking lot and running over a curb on his way out. Finney then contacted the police to report a possible intoxicated driver.
Huntington City Police Officer Whitney Stoffel was dispatched to investigate. Upon observing Hucker's vehicle drift out of its lane and follow another vehicle too closely, Officer Stoffel initiated a traffic stop. Officer Stoffel observed signs of intoxication, and Hucker explained that his behavior may be a result of recently taking his prescription Xanax. Hucker performed three field sobriety tests. He passed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test but failed the one leg stand and walk and turn tests. Officer Stoffel informed Hucker of the Indiana Implied Consent Law, and Hucker agreed to submit to a urinalysis test. He tested positive for benzodiazepine in excess of 1500 ng/mL and THC Metabolite of 114 ng/mL.
Hucker contends Indiana Code section 9-30-5-1(c) violates the Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Indiana Constitution. A statute challenged under the Indiana Constitution "stands before us clothed with the presumption of constitutionality until clearly overcome by a contrary showing." Boehm v. Town of St. John, 675 N.E.2d 318, 321 (Ind.1996). The party challenging the constitutionality of a statute bears the burden of establishing a constitutional violation, and all doubts are resolved against that party. Id.
The Indiana Constitution's Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause states that "[t]he General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens." IND. CONST. art. 1, § 23. In Collins v. Day, our supreme court conducted a thorough examination of the history, purpose, and text of Section 23. 644 N.E.2d 72, 75-81 (Ind.1994). The court concluded Section 23 imposes two requirements on statutes that result in disparate treatment to differing classes of people: "First, the disparate treatment accorded by the legislation must be reasonably related to inherent characteristics which distinguish the unequally treated classes. Second, the preferential treatment must be uniformly applicable and equally available to all persons similarly situated." Id. at 80. The court also noted that courts must give substantial deference to legislative discretion when considering a statute challenged under Section 23. Id.
At the outset, Hucker seems to concede that the first prong of the Collins test is satisfied, citing this court's decision in Shepler v. State, 758 N.E.2d 966, 971 (Ind.Ct. App.2001), trans. denied, and purports to make his challenge only under the second prong of the test. Hucker maintains that members within the identified class are unequally treated because criminal exposure under the statute varies depending upon factors such as "the dosage taken,
The State observes, rightly, that Hucker's argument would be more properly launched under the first prong of the Collins test. Hucker essentially argues that disparate treatment of persons driving with schedule I or schedule II controlled substances is not "reasonably related to inherent characteristics" of the users of those substances. To Hucker, the factors noted in his brief distinguish various schedule I and schedule II controlled substances and render the statute's classification over-inclusive. In other words, the statute treats as identical a number of controlled substances that have varying effects on the human body. A fair point, but one that is better placed before the General Assembly, not this court. The disparate treatment to persons who operate a vehicle with a schedule I or schedule II controlled substance is reasonably related to inherent characteristics among those persons — namely, the usage of those controlled substances causes impairment and the amount necessary to cause impairment is not easily quantifiable. See Shepler, 758 N.E.2d at 971; see also Bennett v. State, 801 N.E.2d 170, 177-78 (Ind.Ct.App.2003). Given the "substantial deference" we must provide the General Assembly in generating such classifications, Collins, 644 N.E.2d at 80, we cannot find the statute unconstitutional under Section 23.
Concluding Indiana Code section 9-30-5-1(c) does not violate Article 1, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution, we affirm.
Affirmed.
BARNES, J., and BROWN, J., concur.