Student group seeks changes in drug policies
Kyle Szymanski
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: News
Student organization hopes to bring a Good Samaritan policy to campus.
Alexander Woon, founder and president of the SJSU chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said he has heard of too many college students who have suffered from alcohol poisoning and eventually died.
Some of these overdose victims could have been saved, Woon said, had their friends not been paralyzed by fear that calling for help would lead to unconscionable consequences for underage drinking.
Woon said a situation like this could play out at SJSU because the university hasn't implemented a Good Samaritan policy.
"Good Samaritan policies are medical amnesty policies where students can ask for help for students without any repercussions or punitive consequences," Woon said.
Currently, at least 91 schools in the country have implemented Good Samaritan policies for alcohol or drug abuse, according to a Massachusetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission report.
Colleges that have implemented these policies see a drastic increase in the number of students treated for alcohol-related problems, Woon said.
Cornell University saw the number of calls to medical personnel for acute alcohol intoxication jump 44 percent, from 63 calls to 91 calls, three years after a program was implemented there, according to the 2006 International Journal of Drug Policy.
SJSU President Jon Whitmore said in a press conference with student media that any kind of amnesty policy would have to go through policy analysis to see how it would affect the current situation on campus before it could be implemented.
"I do think it is important if someone is in trouble that the trouble gets addressed in an emergency situation," Whitmore said in a press conference with student media on Oct. 20. "You know, if somebody has drunk too much alcohol and needs medical attention, it's important there be methods for that student to get that attention without being inhibited from seeking that attention."
Alexander Woon, founder and president of the SJSU chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said he has heard of too many college students who have suffered from alcohol poisoning and eventually died.
Some of these overdose victims could have been saved, Woon said, had their friends not been paralyzed by fear that calling for help would lead to unconscionable consequences for underage drinking.
Woon said a situation like this could play out at SJSU because the university hasn't implemented a Good Samaritan policy.
"Good Samaritan policies are medical amnesty policies where students can ask for help for students without any repercussions or punitive consequences," Woon said.
Currently, at least 91 schools in the country have implemented Good Samaritan policies for alcohol or drug abuse, according to a Massachusetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission report.
Colleges that have implemented these policies see a drastic increase in the number of students treated for alcohol-related problems, Woon said.
Cornell University saw the number of calls to medical personnel for acute alcohol intoxication jump 44 percent, from 63 calls to 91 calls, three years after a program was implemented there, according to the 2006 International Journal of Drug Policy.
SJSU President Jon Whitmore said in a press conference with student media that any kind of amnesty policy would have to go through policy analysis to see how it would affect the current situation on campus before it could be implemented.
"I do think it is important if someone is in trouble that the trouble gets addressed in an emergency situation," Whitmore said in a press conference with student media on Oct. 20. "You know, if somebody has drunk too much alcohol and needs medical attention, it's important there be methods for that student to get that attention without being inhibited from seeking that attention."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Matt Kintz
posted 11/17/09 @ 12:46 PM PST
Way to go SSDP!
Remind your administrators that students' lives are more important than "catching them all".
Keep up the fight.
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