The binge drinking epidemic has swept colleges across the nation and unfortunately, students ignore subsequent health concerns for fear of punishment. To curb the consequences of alcohol poisoning, including death, colleges across the country are adopting progressive policies.
A staggering 1,400 college students die each year from alcohol-related deaths and this number has increased continuously, from 1998 to 2001.
Increasingly dangerous behavior related to alcohol consumption has prompted universities to implement “amnesty” for drinking violations to prevent deaths that result from overdosing on alcohol.
Known as “Good Samaritan policies,” these amnesty programs allow students to ask for and receive help from the university in emergency situations resulting from alcohol poisoning, without fear of being punished for underage drinking.
UCLA should adopt this policy fully.
Currently if a student alerts a resident assistant that a friend has alcohol poisoning as a result of drinking in the dorms, everyone involved is written up and faces community service or other disciplinary action.
This board is concerned that students would rather go unpunished than call for help when a friend needs medical attention.
This policy could release pressures students feel when faced with an emergency situations, such as fear of their parents’ reactions and actions the university may take against them after the emergency has been resolved.
Reducing the punishment in emergency situations encourages students to make important judgment calls when it comes to their friends’ health and in some cases, their friends’ lives.
After a similar program was implemented at Cornell University, 52 percent of students involved in an alcohol emergency received follow-up treatment. The previous year only 22 percent pursued follow-up treatment. Students felt more inclined to receiving help to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Of course, students should still face the consequences when they violate federal and state policies for underage drinking, but not when someone’s life hangs in the balance. Students will drink, but rules need to be kept to keep order.
But if this fear of punishment prevents people from taking the necessary steps to save a friend’s life because they are afraid they will be written up for consumption of alcohol, something needs to be changed.
If a roommate or friend has passed out on a dorm floor, unconscious and helpless, there should be no thought to repercussions. Seeking medical attention should be a priority.
The most important idea is that a student can find help and protect the health of another student.
The importance of punishing underage drinking pales in comparison to making a phone call or asking for help in a situation that could save another student from death, so an effort to communicate this idea to students should be made.
We are not condoning binge drinking or underage drinking.
But unfortunately, these are activities that frequently occur on college campuses, including UCLA.
Thus far, universities have had difficulty diminishing alcohol use. But they can take steps to reduce alcohol-related deaths by incorporating these Good Samaritan policies into their schools.