Pitt changes alcohol policy after amnesty bill becomes law

Pitt changed its Student Code of Conduct to match that of the state’s alcohol amnesty law that… Pitt changed its Student Code of Conduct to match that of the state’s alcohol amnesty law that was put into effect in July.

The law, known as the “Good Samaritan” law, grants amnesty only to the underage drinker who calls emergency services for their intoxicated friend. The law states that the underage person who calls the police will not face prosecution for underage consumption or possession of alcohol as long as the person satisfies four requirements — believes he is the first person to contact emergency services, does it in “good faith,” provides his own name to the emergency officer or operator and stays with the intoxicated person until help arrives.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said in an email that the University has made changes to the Student Code of Conduct, known as Responsible Action Protocol, “to adhere to the policy behind the new state law regarding amnesty for individuals who take responsible action to assist others in an alcohol emergency.”

The revised Code of Conduct states, “Because the University understands that fear of possible actions may deter certain requests for emergency assistance, the University has adopted the following Responsible Action Protocol to alleviate such concerns and promote responsible action on the part of the students.”

The Code of Conduct also states that, in accordance with the new law, an underage student is protected from both criminal prosecution and initiation of Pitt Judicial Board action if the student fulfills requirements similar to the law — contacts emergency services by calling the Pitt police or 911 to report an incident, remains with the person who needs emergency services, cooperates with emergency officials, meets with appropriate University officials after the incident and cooperates with any University investigation.

Before Pennsylvania passed the law, Pitt had a zero-tolerance policy toward alcohol and no amnesty policy.

Pitt Police commander Francis Walsh said last year that “if we come in contact with someone under the age of 21, and if they have consumed alcohol, they will get cited. It’s not harsh. It’s the law.”Last spring, the Student Government Board members began meeting with the University’s Alcohol Task Force, comprised of students and administration officials, to discuss the possibility of reversing the policy.

Anna Vitriol, a health educator at Pitt’s Student Health Service, directed questions to Pitt spokeswoman Patricia White. White said that it is still too early to say how the state amnesty policy and the change to Pitt’s policy will affect the role of the Alcohol Task Force.

Carnegie Mellon University and Temple University both already had alcohol amnesty policies in place before the law was enacted. CMU’s policy has broader protections, granting amnesty to both the students who seek medical attention after drinking underage and for the students who call University police or the EMS for the intoxicated person.

State Sen. John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, the original sponsor of the Senate bill, said that he hopes this bill will help in situations where underage drinking is involved and someone needs medical attention.

“Rather than someone running from the scene, someone will say, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t right. This person should get attention,’” Rafferty said. “This [law] will initiate the work to get that person the medical attention they need.”

But neither the law nor the Student Code of Conduct grants amnesty to the person who needs the medical attention.

Rafferty said he felt that the the person calling emergency services should receive amnesty because “they’re the one taking the responsibility.”

He said that the possibility of the intoxicated person getting in trouble will hopefully not make people second-guess calling emergency services. The law is “appealing to the good conscience to make sure [people] do the right thing.”

The new University protocol states that “the Responsible Action Protocol only applies to alcohol violations and does not apply to other criminal activity such as assault, property damage or presence of other illicit substances.”

But the Code of Conduct states that when student organizations are hosting an event, they are expected to call emergency services in an alcohol-related emergency, but they may not be exempt from judicial consequences resulting from student code violations.

Rafferty has worked on this bill for a number of years, and said he is happy to see it finally signed into law. The bill ran two years ago under Gov. Ed Rendell and passed in the state Senate but not the House.

This time around, the bill passed unanimously in the Senate and House in June before Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law on July 7.

“This law is a step in the right direction to encourage young people to assume their responsibility and make the effort to help someone in need,” Rafferty said.