UA's amnesty cases for alcohol on rise

Student leaders push to add drug calls

FAYETTEVILLE -- More students have avoided school discipline this academic year under a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville alcohol-related medical amnesty policy.

The rise in numbers -- 27 exemptions granted so far, compared with six in the 2015-16 academic year -- comes as student government leaders seek to have other drug-overdose emergency calls covered by a good Samaritan policy.

Under the university's Razorback Medical Attention and Reporting Alternative Resolution Policy, students requesting medical attention because of alcohol intoxication -- for themselves or others -- may apply for an "alternative resolution" to typical disciplinary measures.

Amnesty cases have been few compared with total alcohol-related cases. In the 2015 calendar year, UA reported a total of 693 liquor law violations referred for disciplinary action, including 629 from on-campus residential facilities, in its most recent campus security report. About 5,700 students live on campus in university-run residence halls and an apartment complex.

The proposal from students to expand the policy would align with a state law passed in 2015, the Joshua Ashley-Pauley Act, which allows those reporting a drug overdose to avoid arrest for possessing a controlled substance.

It was named for a 20-year-old man who was with friends when they mixed prescription drugs. Ashley-Pauley passed out and had difficulty breathing, but no emergency crews were called even though a friend recognized the distress, Ken Ashley-Pauley, the man's father, told legislators in 2015.

Few seem to know about the state law, said Kirk Lane, Benton police chief and a speaker at colleges who warns students about the dangers of prescription and opioid drug abuse.

Lane said he's spoken to a total of perhaps 1,000 students at several college campuses this year. As part of his presentation, he asks if they know anything about the drug overdose law.

"Nobody knows what it is, so I go over the [Joshua Ashley-Pauley] Act with them, because I think it's important, especially at that age," Lane said.

The law states that a person "shall not be arrested, charged, or prosecuted for possession of a controlled substance" if the evidence against them "resulted solely" from asking for medical help for a drug overdose, either for themselves or someone else.

Also in 2015, legislators passed a law shielding underage drinkers from criminal prosecution if they seek emergency medical assistance. Those asking for help must also remain until help arrives and cooperate with both medical workers and police.

Several states have enacted some form of medical amnesty law, including Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Capt. Gary Crain with the university police said he did not know of any drug overdose calls taking place on campus where immunity was provided under the law.

But with alcohol, he said, students occasionally require an ambulance. He said preliminary data show three such cases this year and seven last year. Students are immune from arrest in that circumstance, and Crain urged students worried about a friend to "call for assistance, don't take a chance."

At UA, Connor Flocks, president of the university's Associated Student Government, said the rise in alcohol-related amnesty cases relates to a growing awareness among students about the amnesty.

The policy took effect in September 2014 after a sustained push from the student government.

Flocks said he's delivered presentations to Greek organizations about the policy.

"I think that's helped, certainly, in getting the word out to people," Flocks said, adding that just because a policy exists "doesn't mean people know about it."

Flocks said student government leaders hope to meet soon with university officials about what they have called the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Resolution, which calls for "both the caller and the victim to be exempt from legal repercussions."

In a statement, UA spokesman Scott Flanagin said the school is "in very preliminary stages with this, and many campus officials need to weigh in," including university police.

The university reported 68 drug-law violations referred for disciplinary action in calendar year 2015 in its most recent campus security report.

Nathan Smith, one of the co-authors of the student government resolution, said a friend and former UA student, Will Doerhoff, died from a drug overdose.

Doerhoff was 20 when he died in October, and his parents have established the William Christian Doerhoff Memorial Foundation to raise cultural awareness about the dangers of drugs.

Lane has traveled to college campuses with other law enforcement officials as part of the foundation's efforts to put on workshops about drug abuse.

Metro on 04/30/2017

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