A month into my “freshman experience” I witnessed the effects of two girls getting roofied. I saw their eyes roll back and their faces pale, as they melted into the hard concrete of the floor that lay below. I remember standing paralyzed, hands shaking and tears streaming down my face, my thoughts muted by the deafening shriek of the surrounding terror I had stumbled upon.
To everyone’s relief, the girls ended up being safe, however, a recollection of the night shows a disturbing reality. As the RAs scrambled to contact authorities, the girls’ friends refused to properly answer questions regarding where they were and what was consumed, fearful of exposing their own illegal behaviors and substance possession. At that moment, their friends were given the position of lifesavers, and they did not carry that out well.
This demonstrates a horrifying fact that can be attributed to a matter of ignorance and disinformation: the girls didn’t know how much they could “safely” say. The fear of repercussions for their actions inhibited them from telling the truth, forging a palpable trust barrier that could’ve ended in a very unfortunate reality. When authority figures are made to appear like they care more about getting students in trouble than getting them out of it, fear is fostered and lives are put at stake.
These events are terrifyingly common. It's time for UNC to wake up, recognize the severity of such situations and adjust their substance education strategies. This begins with the often stigmatized topic of medical amnesty. Students make questionable decisions when faced with the possession and usage of drugs and alcohol because they are anxious about the charges that will ensue. This makes understanding this rule absolutely vital, especially for underage individuals. Medical amnesty exempts you from substance possession charges whenever there is an emergency that requires immediate life or death attention.
Instead of worrying about the drugs in your friend’s system or the smell of alcohol on their lips, go seek help. Students are protected, yet this information disconnect puts too much at stake in an attempt to conceal illegalities. Freshman year is infamously defined in part by an exploration of new things, but close calls with death on campus are preventable.
Additionally, UNC as an institution has a major issue when it comes to reinforcing the severity of substance abuse problems due to its lack of concern; authorities have confused frequency with frivolousness. Every “case” is a person and every person deserves an explanation of the situation. The hospital sobers you up, waits for you to wake and then sends you home, but what happens next? Instead of focusing on guidance and preventative measures, treatment services tend to dissipate the second a student keys back into their dorm.
Though the University has some established emergency resources and initiatives, the individuals that need such support are often not ones who are in the right headspace to recognize their addictive tendencies. For this reason, UNC and its hospitals must recognize that emergency intervention and recovery are two very different things and take immediate action to ensure that today’s repeat ER visitors don’t become tomorrow’s headline.
In theory, a friend’s life should always come first, yet unfortunately fear can overpower this sensibility. Addressing these gaps in education and prevention is crucial to guarantee that instincts to seek medical help always significantly outweigh any lingering concern of disciplinary consequences.
