2023 Nevada Revised Statutes › Chapter 488 - Watercraft › NRS 488.410 - Unlawful acts; penalty. [Effective until the date of the repeal of the federal law requiring each state to make it unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater as a condition to receiving federal funding for the construction of highways in this State.] Unlawful acts; penalty. [Effective on the date of the repeal of the federal law requiring each state to make it unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater as a condition to receiving federal funding for the construction of highways in this State.]

1. It is unlawful for any person who:
(a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor;
(b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or breath; or
(c) Is found by measurement within 2 hours after operating or being in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way to have a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or breath,
to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State.
2. It is unlawful for any person who:
(a) Is under the influence of a controlled substance;
(b) Is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance; or
(c) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any of these, to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely operating or exercising actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way,
to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State.
3. It is unlawful for any person to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State with an amount of any of the following prohibited substances in his or her blood or urine that is equal to or greater than:
Urine Blood
Nanograms per Nanograms per
Prohibited substance milliliter milliliter
(a) Amphetamine 500 100
(b) Cocaine 150 50
(c) Cocaine metabolite 150 50
(d) Heroin 2,000 50
(e) Heroin metabolite:
(1) Morphine 2,000 50
(2) 6-monoacetyl morphine 10 10
(f) Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 10
(g) Methamphetamine 500 100
(h) Phencyclidine 25 10
4. For any violation that is punishable pursuant to NRS 488.427, it is unlawful for any person to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State with an amount of any of the following prohibited substances in his or her blood that is equal to or greater than:
Blood
Nanograms per
Prohibited substance milliliter
(a) Marijuana (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) 2
(b) Marijuana metabolite (11-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol) 5
5. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it is an affirmative defense under paragraph (c) of subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of alcohol after operating or being in actual physical control of the power-driven vessel or sailing vessel, as applicable, under way and before his or her blood was tested, to cause the defendant to have a concentration of 0.08 or more of alcohol in his or her blood or breath. A defendant who intends to offer this defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, not less than 14 days before the trial or hearing or at such other time as the court may direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a written notice of that intent.
6. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 488.427, a person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Added to NRS by 1987, 626; A 1993, 539; 1999, 2463, 3430; 2001, 172; 2003, 2563; 2005, 615; 2017, 309; 2021, 1463; 2023, 544)
1. It is unlawful for any person who:
(a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor;
(b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.10 or more in his or her blood or breath; or
(c) Is found by measurement within 2 hours after operating or being in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way to have a concentration of alcohol of 0.10 or more in his or her blood or breath,
to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State.
2. It is unlawful for any person who:
(a) Is under the influence of a controlled substance;
(b) Is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance; or
(c) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any of these, to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely operating or exercising actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way,
to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State.
3. It is unlawful for any person to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State with an amount of any of the following prohibited substances in his or her blood or urine that is equal to or greater than:
Urine Blood
Nanograms per Nanograms per
Prohibited substance milliliter milliliter
(a) Amphetamine 500 100
(b) Cocaine 150 50
(c) Cocaine metabolite 150 50
(d) Heroin 2,000 50
(e) Heroin metabolite:
(1) Morphine 2,000 50
(2) 6-monoacetyl morphine 10 10
(f) Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 10
(g) Methamphetamine 500 100
(h) Phencyclidine 25 10
4. For any violation that is punishable pursuant to NRS 488.427, it is unlawful for any person to operate or be in actual physical control of a power-driven vessel or sailing vessel under way on the waters of this State with an amount of any of the following prohibited substances in his or her blood that is equal to or greater than:
Blood
Nanograms per
Prohibited substance milliliter
(a) Marijuana (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) 2
(b) Marijuana metabolite (11-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol) 5
5. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it is an affirmative defense under paragraph (c) of subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of alcohol after operating or being in actual physical control of the power-driven vessel or sailing vessel, as applicable, under way and before his or her blood was tested, to cause the defendant to have a concentration of 0.10 or more of alcohol in his or her blood or breath. A defendant who intends to offer this defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, not less than 14 days before the trial or hearing or at such other time as the court may direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a written notice of that intent.
6. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 488.427, a person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Added to NRS by 1987, 626; A 1993, 539; 1999, 2463, 3430; 2001, 172; 2003, 2563; 2005, 615; 2017, 309; 2021, 1463; 2023, 544, effective on the date of the repeal of the federal law requiring each state to make it unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater as a condition to receiving federal funding for the construction of highways in this State)