On April 12th Governor Bryant signed SB2197 making it a law in July. The law will allow for those consuming alcohol illegally to call for help and not face charges if someone is facing a medical emergency. However, the law does not provide protection for illegally supplying alcohol.
Cody Smith, Ole Miss law student, began advocating for the new law back in 2016 when he was on ASB during his undergrad at Ole Miss. He and the president of ASB at the time, Rod Bridges, started looking at the ways to represent students off campus.
“One issue that came to us was issues involving minors drinking,” Smith said. “Rod and I had heard of stories of incidents where minors had too much to drink and fell ill, but didn’t receive proper treatment.”
The University already has this policy where if minors are drinking, they can call without facing charges, however this only applied on campus.
“It was an initiative that I thought could lead to ASB having more of a role in representing students off of campus and it would have been an initiative that would have an actual positive impact on students,” Smith said. “I believe that there are more incidences happening off of campus than on, and this expands that protection.”
The bill was first introduced to the House the following year, but died in committee in 2017. This year, the bill was introduced to the Senate instead and with the help of Ole Miss alumni, Sen. Michael Watson of Pascagoula and Sen. Briggs Hopson of Vicksburg, the bill passed, was sent to the House for approval and then to the Governor to sign.
Sen. Watson got behind this bill because it was a great policy position to support in his opinion.
“It was important to me because it was important to someone on the ground who saw how beneficial it would be,” Watson said. “Additionally, I spent 7 years at Ole Miss and remember hearing about a few situations in which this would have been extremely helpful in getting some individuals needed treatment in a more timely manner.”
Smith believes now that students just need to be informed of the new law for it to have an impact.
“After well publicized deaths at LSU and Penn State, we need to do more to encourage students to seek help when there is a risk of alcohol poisoning” he said.
Bishop Lewis, Patrol Lieutenant for the Department of Police and Campus Safety, thinks the new law is good thing as it simply reinforces in a positive way what has already been happening in the community.
“We always want members of our community to call us for help when they (or others) need it,” Lt. Lewis said. “The only thing I would like to add about the new law is to point out that the callers should cooperate with law enforcement when we arrive. It makes our job easier, and allows us to help those that need it more quickly.”
Fortunately under this new law, the caller has to meet certain requirements under legislation. They must remain at the scene, provide information to law enforcement and cooperate with emergency personnel.
Hailey Mckee, junior public policy and journalism student, is in favor of this law, however she does see one potential downside.
“The passage of this law will not only allow people to feel safe while getting necessary help and medical attention on campus, but more importantly, it extends this protection to incidents that may occur off campus as well,” Mckee said. “Though this is a huge benefit to minors who have chosen to drink and may need assistance, having legal amnesty may cause underage citizens to engage in more dangerous drinking habits if they have a preconceived notion that they are already protected.”
Smith thinks this is a step in the right direction for the state of Mississippi, but there is still some more work that needs to be done.
“I would love to see additional language added that states the sick individual will not face charges,” he said.
Kathryn Abernathy 