YOU can start a Good Samaritan Policy (GSP) on your campus!  What is a GSP (also known as Medical Amnesty Policy)?  In short, this policy protects students from getting in trouble when seeking help for a fellow student who needs medical attention.  Here is a hypothetical situation:  Say you’re drinking in your dorm room with some friends, and your roommate comes home from a party looking smashed.  She passes out, and even though you’re shouting her name and nudging her, she’s not responding. You know she needs an ambulance, but you’re afraid to call 9-1-1.  After all, there are underage people drinking in your dorm, and nobody wants to get in trouble.  What do you do?

A recent study at North Dakota State University by Dr. Laura Oster-Aaland showed that these policies tend to increase help-seeking behaviors.  People are more likely to call 9-1-1 when there is a policy that not only encourages you to make that call, but also protects you from getting in trouble.

I am a huge advocate of GSPs.  There must be education on this issue, but I think people also need that extra nudge to do the right thing.  Judgements are compromised when alcohol is involved.  Being both drunk and scared can lead to awful decisions.  No one deserves to pay the ultimate price.

Are you inspired to learn more about these policies?  Check out this link from Students for Sensible Drug Policy to see if your school has a GSP.  If not, talk with your teachers.  Engage influential students on campus.  Start a club.  Contact the media.  Make an issue out of it.

This spring, I presented at Virginia Tech, and a wonderful student named Liz Rogers was in the audience.  After I shared that Tech doesn’t currently have a GSP, Liz made it her mission to change this.  A few short weeks later, the local media did a piece for the evening news, below.  She is making massive strides.  I asked her a few questions about her experience so far, and below is our convo.  Check out the national Facebook page, ”Students for a Good Samaritan Policy”, which Liz just started a couple days ago.  Lastly, don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you want my help!

Erica:  What inspired you to start a Good Samaritan Policy at Virginia Tech?

Liz:  After you came to VT and spoke to our sorority community, I realized that I can make a change.  With this policy in place, lives can be saved.  I think Virginia Tech needs this policy to help promote a friendship attitude on the campus.  Also, it will encourage people to look out for one another.

Erica:  Why do you think your campus needs this policy?  Have you witnessed a time when you think students could have used it?

Liz:  I think every university needs this policy.  I have not personally witnessed a time when a call should have been made, but I have heard lots of stories.  Students are not given enough education about alcohol and drugs, and therefore do not know what to do when someone has had too much.  That is why I find this policy so pertinent – it helps educate about the hazards of alcohol and drugs.  I think another main benefit to this policy is that it reduces the chance of regret.  Instead of regretting and wishing you had done something, you will be able to walk away from the situation knowing you saved a life and a friendship.

Erica :  Some skeptics say GSPs promote high-risk drinking.  What do you think about that?

Liz:  I think it all depends on how the policy is written.  If education is also incorporated into the policy, it can help reduce high-risk drinking.  Also, if a “strikes” policy is in place, the system will not be abused and high-risk drinking won’t be as likely to increase.

Erica:  What were your first steps in starting the policy?

Liz:  I was able to get in touch with the president of the SSDP (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) who helped me start a club at Virginia Tech.  From there, we created a Facebook group for our school which allowed us to share information with people about meetings, etc.  Luckily, our school newspaper saw the Facebook group and wrote an article about it, which lead to more awareness with not only students and faculty, but also the local news.  After this occurred, I was able to get in touch with our VP of Student Affairs, and from there we have been discussing our hopes for this policy.

Erica:  Any other advice for students?

Liz:  My main piece of advice is don’t try and do this on your own.  Lots of students have helped me who are interested in this policy.  It takes a group to achieve this task.  And don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Many people are willing to help, and have input that could really help you.  Best of luck!!

At least half of college campus sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both. You can view the entire Beckett Brennan interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognFvmLwFmE

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Inspiring words from Tupac’s pre-thug days, which makes me wonder what he could have been…(from the movie, Tupac Shakur: Life of an Outlaw)

There’s lots of talk right now about all the strange and dangerous things people are doing to get high, such as smoking synthetic marijuana and snorting bath salts.  As if this doesn’t sound bad enough, kids are buying it on the internet.  Hopefully not for long.

In Minnesota last Thursday, ten teens were hospitalized and one died from 2C-E (commonly called “Europa”), an hallucinogenic party drug that is supposed to feel like LSD.  At a house party, 19-year-old Trevor Robinson almost immediately began having trouble after taking the pill.  He wasn’t talking and his breathing became strained.  Some say he was banging his head against the wall.  His friends dumped him off at the hospital parking lot, and workers found him there unconscious.  Trevor died.  2C-E has been banned in other countries, but not in the U.S. yet.  Hopefully this death will get some legislative butts in gear.

Then there is Spice or K2, which is sold as incense, but people are smoking it like marijuana.  If blackouts, seizures, and panic attacks sound fun, then this is the drug for you.  As of March 1st, these drugs have be placed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, and the ban will last for at least a year.  Many countries banned this stuff in 2009, around the time it started making its presence known over here.

Then there are bath salts, which are marketed as bath salts and being sold under names such as Ivory Snow, Zoom 2, Aura, Red Dove, Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightning, Hurricane Charlie and Vanilla Sky.  They contain a designer drug called mephedrone or MDPV, which is an amphetamine.  It’s a central nervous system stimulant, so it increases your blood pressure, heart rate, and can cause chest pain, heart attack, and stroke.  Some psychological symptoms include delusions, paranoia, psychosis.  In 2009, there were no reported cases to Poison Control Centers, but in 2010, there were 236. This year alone, there have been 248 cases.  I was so sad when I watched this segment on the Today Show about the death of Dickie Sanders, a talented BMX competitor.  Please stay away from this crap.  How can it possibly be worth it.

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There are lots of laughs surrounding Charlie Sheen’s plummet to rock bottom.  His interview tirades showcase his ludicrous delusions of grandeur, and although sometimes funny, it is seriously obvious that he is one step away from stumbling off the cliff.  Charlie’s problems didn’t start yesterday, and his record is peppered with an abusive history with women among other weird behavior.  Did drugs / alcohol play a role from the start?  In 1998, he overdosed on self-injected cocaine and was hospitalized, arrested, and sent to rehab.  So yes, that implies a long history of drug issues.  But is there a much larger issue of a mental health disorder?  Dr. Drew thinks so and I agree.

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Thank you Michael Goodwin of Virginia Tech, for bestowing upon me the coolest (albeit temporary) gift I have ever received!  I felt incredibly honored when you gave me your Actively Caring for People wristband at the AFLV leadership conference in St. Louis earlier this month.  I have been wearing it nonstop, actively watching for the next deserving host : )

The Actively Caring for People movement was born at Virginia Tech in 2007, and I can’t wait for it to grow nationally and perhaps worldwide!  Here’s how it works.  Someone gives you their wristband for Actively Caring, then you pay it forward to someone else.  Michael gave his to me after attending my Keep Friendship Alive presentation.  If you want to buy wristbands or learn more, visit the ac4p.org website.

Thank you Michael!  Your gesture will be passed on…and on and on and on.

A great message from my Indian vaca : )

This weekend I attended a really interesting (and fun!) student athlete conference called APPLE.   The video below was shown during Eric Patterson’s presentation, “Dietary Supplements: Worth the Risk?”  My main takeaways from Eric’s information were 1) You flat out DO NOT NEED supplements, and 2) Who really knows how safe these products are anyways?  NONE of these products can be guaranteed to test negatively on an athlete drug test.  Why waste your moolah when you can get everything you need from food.  Visit www.mypyramid.gov to get info on your diet.