Medical Amnesty and Responsible Action

Call 911 – You May Save a Life

If I’m under 21 and have been drinking, will I get in trouble if I call 911 or get help for someone else who is passed out from consuming too much alcohol?

You’re protected. Local guidelines, including Ohio University’s Amnesty for Alcohol and Drugs and Ohio’s Good Samaritan Law, protects students from prosecution for consumption or possession of alcohol or drugs when they seek help for a peer who is passed out, unconscious or unresponsive as the result of over-consumption.

Ohio’s Good Samaritan Law

…A person acting in good faith who seeks or obtains medical assistance for another person who is experiencing a drug overdose, a person who experiences a drug overdose and who seeks medical assistance for that overdoes, or a person who is the subject of another person seeking or obtaining medical assistance for that overdose…Seek or obtain medical assistance includes, but is not limited to making a 9-1-1 call, contacting in person or by telephone call an on-duty police officer, or transporting or presenting a person to a health care facility.

Ohio University’s Amnesty for Alcohol and Drugs

In an effort to encourage reporting of alleged sexual misconduct, relationship violence, and stalking violations, students will not be subject to referrals for action under the Student Code of Conductif they engaged in the unlawful or prohibited personal use of alcohol or drugs during the incident when the alleged violation occurred. Amnesty applies only to the personal use of alcohol or drugs during the incident in question and does not extend to other potential violations of the Student Code of Conduct that may have been committed. Amnesty does not apply to mattes in which drugs or alcohol are used to facilitate a violation of Ohio University Policy 03.004 and/or the Student Code of Conduct.