KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Click here to view the Partying Bill of Rights.
In the "Speak up or Shut up" campaign, Student Association is trying to get students to take a stance on political issues that affect them. Below is a list of different legislation and issues that are coming. Click on the links for more information.
Medical Amnesty
Right now, the law in Michigan states that any minor in possession on caught consuming alcohol will have the probability of receiving a M.I.P. If the HB 4786 passes, minors calling for medical assistance for another person suffering from possible alcohol-related conditions would not themselves be subject to prosecution for being a minor in possession. This bill has already been passed by the full House unanimously by the Judiciary Committee.
Section 9 would be added to Senate Bill 408 stating:
(9) A MINOR WHO HAS CONSUMED ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR AND WHO
VOLUNTARILY PRESENTS HIMSELF OR HERSELF TO A HEALTH FACILITY OR
AGENCY FOR TREATMENT OR FOR OBSERVATION, ANY OTHER MINOR WHO
ACCOMPANIES THAT MINOR, AND ANY MINOR WHO CONTACTS A PEACE OFFICER
OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL ARE NOT CONSIDERED IN
VIOLATION OF SUBSECTION (1).
HB 4786 deals just with situations involving alcohol, not narcotics and other controlled substances, and was introduced in hopes of eliminating possible fatalities involving underage young people who have drunk too much, and whose friends may hesitate to call for help because they are afraid of being cited for being a minor in possession. An impaired minor driving someone to a hospital would not be exempt from drunken driving laws, however.
Click here for more information.
Concealed Weapons
Right now, it is illegal in Michigan to carry a concealed weapon on campus. In Section 1 Letter f is where you find this (f) An entertainment facility with a seating capacity of 2,500
or more individuals that the individual knows or should know has a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals or that has a sign above each public entrance stating in letters not less than 1-inch high a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals. (g) A hospital. (h) A dormitory or classroom of a community college, college, or university.
If this bill were to pass letter h would be stricken out thus making it legal for permitted civilians to carry their concealed weapon on campus.
Click here for more information.
Choose Responsibility
CHOOSE RESPONSIBILITY is a nonprofit organization founded to stimulate informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture and to consider policies that will effectively empower young adults age 18 to 20 to make mature decisions about the place of alcohol in their own lives. Alcohol is a reality in the lives of young Americans. It cannot be denied, ignored, or legislated away.
They believe that like a driver’s license, there should be a drinking license. In order to obtain this license one must be 18 or older and have to pass a course. This course should be a model for reality-based alcohol education. Involve collaboration between state, school, and home. Create a basis for responsible choices where alcohol is concerned, and wed those expectations of responsible behavior to a system of certification and provisional licensing for 18-20 year-olds. Be developed and implemented on a state-by-state basis. Provide accurate, truthful, and unbiased alcohol education. It will acknowledge the social reality of alcohol in American society, but it will advocate neither abstinence nor consumption. It will seek only to create a basis for responsible choices where alcohol is concerned.
Upon successful completion of the curriculum, each student of the program will receive a license, entitling him or her to all the privileges and responsibilities of adult alcohol purchase, possession, and consumption of alcohol.
In order to do this, the need to run tests to see how well it works, but the National Minimum Drinking Age Act ties states to a minimum drinking age of 21 in order to avoid a 10% reduction in a state’s federal highway appropriation. Choose Responsibility believes federal legislation should not penalize states who choose to participate in a pilot alcohol education program based on a minimum drinking age of 18.
Click here for more information.