By State Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis), Author of Indiana’s Lifeline Law
When young people begin college, they are given newfound freedoms. But those freedoms come along with new risks, including the temptation to abuse alcohol. Today, about 40 percent of college students binge drink.
Indiana’s Lifeline Law provides legal protections to minors under the influence of alcohol who call to report a medical emergency or a crime, and any of the party-goers who stay with the person in need of medical attention until help arrives. When someone is facing an emergency, we don’t want fear of prosecution to stop those around them from doing the right thing.
For college students who are engaging in risky practices like partying prior to sporting events or popular drinking games, this is critically important.
It is vital for students and parents to know about the Lifeline Law and the steps they can take to save a life. Recently, Indiana launched a new, widespread outreach initiative dedicated to informing students and parents about the Lifeline Law.
Students in Indiana accessing the Internet through their college or university will now receive information about the Lifeline Law on Facebook, YouTube and Pandora. The messaging will occur through triangulation between cell towers, creating a digital dome over the geography of a campus.
The following campuses will receive 2 million impressions during the first three weeks of school:
Indiana University
Ball State University
Purdue University
Indiana State University
University of Notre Dame
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
University of Evansville
DePauw University
Indiana Wesleyan University
University of Southern Indiana
Butler University
Wabash College
Trine University
There will also be a series of statewide radio advertisements featuring testimonials from parents who lost a child from the effects of binge drinking.
One of the messages you will be hearing on the radio features Dawn Finbloom. Her son, Brett, died of alcohol poisoning at a party where everyone in attendance was underage. His friends were too scared to call for help. Dawn and her husband Norm are dedicated to informing the public about their story and preventing the loss of young Hoosier lives.
More than 100,000 Lifeline messages have also been distributed and used in Indiana’s package liquor stores.
I am very thankful for Big Red Liquors, the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, the Indiana Youth Services Association, the Foundation For Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Monarch Beverage Company, the Kroger Company, Walmart and the Wine and Spirits Distributors of Indiana coming together to raise $40,000—making this much-needed outreach program a reality for college campuses in the state of Indiana.
By working together, we can help spread the Lifeline message, “Make the call; Save a life,” to students and parents across the state.