Proponents of a policy that would grant students immunity from university sanctions if they call for help in the event of a drug overdose made crucial ground this semester, in the hopes that such a policy would result in more students seeking help in dangerous situations.

The renewed push comes more than a year after the implementation of the original Responsible Action Protocol, which protects dangerously drunk students from university punishments when someone calls for emergency medical attention. In March, the University Senate charged its Student Conduct Committee with reviewing a proposal to include drugs in the protocol, also called the Good Samaritan policy.

This academic year, 75 students called for help under the policy, compared to 66 students last year, according to Office of Student Conduct Director Andrea Goodwin. Resident Student Conduct Manager Keira Martone said the Department of Resident Life has also seen an increase in students calling in alcohol-related medical emergencies.

“We were hopeful that those numbers would go up as students were more aware of the policy and were more willing to go for help,” she said. “I’m hoping the word has gotten out, and students are feeling they can call for help.”

Although the proposal to include drugs, submitted by undergraduate senator Brandon Levey last semester, has met some opposition, state Attorney General Doug Gansler ruled broadening the Good Samaritan policy would be legal because it only protects students from university discipline, not criminal charges.

University President Wallace Loh said he hopes the topic of student safety would be “paramount” in the senate committee’s discussions of the proposal.

“Just like the Good Samaritan policy in regard to alcohol, my overriding concern is student safety,” Loh said. “Lots of people are going to be working very hard on this. Let’s face it, there’s not 100 percent support; there’s never 100 percent support on anything for any issue.”

Levey is now readying himself for a long wait – before the senate approved Good Samaritan last spring, its proposal spent four years on the desks of senate members as they debated its advantages and disadvantages.

However, several students and officials said they believe the university community will throw support behind an extended policy.

“I think the administration and everyone is realizing it has been a positive impact, and I think we’re close to expanding the policy to include all substances,” Levey said.

Martone added that while there would be plenty of details to work through, such as whether students would face lesser sanctions or none at all, she approves of the drug amnesty policy’s goals.

“We never want a student to die from overdose of alcohol or drugs, so if adding drugs to the Responsible Action Protocol would help students, I think it would be a good thing,” she said.

Undergraduate student senator Crystal Varkalis, who serves on the Student Conduct Committee, said many committee members support Levey’s proposal.

“When we’ve discussed it, it hasn’t been a matter of if we pass it; it’s a matter of changing the language so everyone is happy with the wording,” said Varkalis, who lost a friend to a drug overdose in 2008 and has advocated for a comprehensive Good Samaritan policy for the past two years.

During an informal poll of the committee, no senators voiced opposition, Levey added.

Levey said during the Student Government Association elections last month, Students for Sensible Drug Policy rallied support for a ballot referendum calling for a drug amnesty policy. Students voted in favor of the referendum, 74 percent to 9 percent, with 17 percent abstaining.

“That’s a majority, and that’s all we should ever need for changing campus policy, is a majority of the student voice,” Varkalis, a former SSDP vice president, said.

Varkalis added that if even one student would be more inclined to call for help because of the Good Samaritan policy, it is important to have it in place.

“It’s a preventative measure. Obviously we want to do this before somebody has to even hesitate or think about calling for help,” she said.

kirkwood@umdbk.com