Officials reviewed the university’s Student Code of Conduct this semester. Most of it was kept the same, but there were some changes.
One of the biggest changes is the introduction of the medical amnesty policy.
The policy provides protection for students if they need to seek medical treatment during analcohol- or drug- related emergency.
So if a student needs to make a call to 911 for such emergency, then they will not receive disciplinary actions from university officials.
Although the student will have to sit down and talk with a representative from the dean of students’s office, the new policy gives students the confidence and opportunity to make a call in an emergency.
That call that could save a student’s life.
The state of Oklahoma has a medical amnesty law, but students could have faced actions from university officials for drinking on a dry campus or drug usage before the policy was put into the code of conduct.
The addition of this policy to the code of conduct is a smart and responsible move for university officials.
Having a talk with a student about being responsible with alcohol is a lot easier than telling a student’s family that their child died because their classmate was afraid to make a call.
There are more than 200 colleges and universities with some form of a medical amnesty policy on the books, according to Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s website, ssdp.org.
Although the policy means students won’t receive punishment for underage drinking, it does not mean that this should be used as a “get out of jail free” card. Rather, it provides students the clarity they need to make responsible, life-saving decisions during extremely stressful situations.
Every minute spent worrying is another minute it will take for help to arrive, that minute can mean the difference between life and death.
Administrators are right for wanting to send this message to students. The dangers of binge drinking or drug abuse should never have to come in the form of a obituary.
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