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As a freshman in the Student Government Association, Scott Moseley joined with a few classmates to write a bill on alcohol medical amnesty.
He hoped to give students the ability to call for help if someone had drank too much without the fear of getting in trouble with the law.
Now, three years later, the bill has finally passed, but it may be more complicated than Moseley initially expected.
Appalachian State University is currently running a one-year trial of the Alcohol Medical Amnesty Policy, which began Aug. 15.
The policy states that if someone calls for help because a person has drank too much and they are taken to the hospital, they may be able to qualify for medical amnesty, which lifts any sanctioning from the office of student conduct.
The plan applies to both the person in need of help and who called for it.
“With medical amnesty, you still have to go to student conduct,” 2009-10 Student Government President Jonathan Meisner said. “They talk with you and make sure you’re OK. However, there are not additional repercussions besides making sure you’re OK.”
Meisner said students are still responsible for any citation issued by police officers, but the office of student conduct will not sanction those who qualify for medical amnesty.
Students who are hospitalized or have drank too much may only be granted medical amnesty once while enrolled at Appalachian, but a student can call for help multiple times and still qualify.
Entire clubs and organizations can only be granted medical amnesty once per academic school year. In order to qualify for the policy, the club or organization must be holding an university recognized event.
“Students can be more proactive about keeping each other safe now that they know the university is going to be more understanding of situations,” Meisner said.
Nate Cook, student government vice president, said that as a residence assistant he has responded to situations where people were drinking and somebody needed assistance.
“I was glad that the people drinking were not afraid to get the person proper help,” Cook said.
Cook also said that although we still do not have the power over North Carolina laws in terms of alcohol, he is very supportive of the bill.
“When somebody needs help, they need help,” Cook said. “Another drunk person taking care of them is not an ideal situation.”
Now a senior, Scott Moseley is happy his original medical amnesty bill is finally being enacted.
“If this program is in place for 10 year, and in that time one life is saved, then it was worth the effort,” Moseley said.
Story: BECKY BUSH, News Reporter |
