Alcohol: Problems and Solutions

• 
• Abuse
• Driving
• Youth
• Health
• Fun Facts

Medical Amnesty or Good Samaritan Alcohol Policies at Colleges & Universities

Medical amnesty or good samaritan policies are designed to protect the health and lives of students who over-consume alcohol to the point that it becomes a medical problem by publicly assuring them that neither students who obtain medical help for others nor those who need such help themselves will be subject to disciplinary actions. Such policies typically provide amnesty only if those involved successfully complete an intervention or alcohol education program.

To be effective, such policies must be clear, unambiguous and widely understood by students.

Some critics have suggested that such a harm reduction policy encourages abusive drinking. But harm reduction is widely accepted in our society. Few people would argue that requiring seat belts leads people to drive faster or that smoke detectors lead people to smoke in bed. Not punishing those who seek help for a medical emergency but requiring them to undergo intervention or education does not encourage them to endanger their lives again.

Colleges with zero tolerance policies that lack medical amnesty policies may be putting the safety of their students at risk and might well find themselves sued for not having sensible or reasonable policies to protect their students.

Hundreds of colleges and universities have adopted medical amnesty policies because of the high value they place on protecting their students from harm or death.