The ASUO Senate decided not to call on the University to modify its policies on drugs on campus Wednesday night after Sen. Sandy Weintraub convinced supporters of the resolution that their idea of campus drug policies was inaccurate.
The resolution sought the Senate’s approval for instituting a “Good Samaritan Policy” on drugs at the University. That policy would prevent the University from punishing students for drug- and alcohol-related offenses when they call for help in medical emergencies while intoxicated or in possession of drugs.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a long-standing group that aims to liberalize policies on drugs and alcohol, presented the resolution.
“It is very important that, if someone is overdosing or does need medical attention, they receive it,” SSDP’s Sam Chapman said.
Response to the resolution was initially positive.
“I have been involved in a situation where, the good samaritan policy, I saw it work,” Sen. Tyler Griffin said.
However, Griffin also said he had concerns.
“The only concern I would have is that this resolution isn’t just a condom for students to have an easy way out of getting in trouble for drug use on campus,” he said.
That was before Weintraub took the floor to speak. Weintraub works in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, which metes out discipline for campus rule violations.
“What do you think happens to people who are caught with drugs and alcohol on this campus?” he demanded of Chapman.
“What this resolution is assuming is that someone who is caught on drugs is automatically going to get punished,” he said. “That’s just not true … If we get in a case where someone has had trouble with alcohol or marijuana … our mission is an educational mission … we send someone to a class where they have to write a paper.”
Chapman, taken aback, said he is unfamiliar with campus policies on drugs. The Senate voted against hearing the resolution and Chapman said he will return with a different one.
The Senate was also slated to hear a resolution on the decision to outsource the Crisis Center’s suicide hot line, but presenters for that resolution did not stay long enough to be heard.
“We just take too long,” Gower said. “Maybe there’s a crisis.”
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