EDITORIAL: Amnesty bill to protect underaged drinkers in medical emergencies should be passed
The Michigan medical amnesty bill has been sitting dormant in the Michigan Senate since 2009 and it is high time for it to be adopted into law.
The bill was approved by the House of Representatives in 2009 and would protect underage drinkers from being ticketed for Minor in Possession while seeking medical attention for drinking-related health emergencies.
Although the Mount Pleasant Police Department has claimed to only ticket minors in the hospital in extreme situations, the risk of receiving an MIP still deters minors from going to the hospital, or the friends of those in need of aid from calling for medical assistance.
This law would send the message that the wellbeing of Michigan citizens is the highest priority for the government, rather than taking every opportunity to make ticket revenue.
The argument could be made this would be permitting or legitimizing underage drinking. However, it is more trying to minimize the medical repercussions in an emergency situation.
Yes, these minors are breaking the law and should not be drinking in the first place. The time to punish them, though, is not when the decision of whether or not to get medical attention could reach repercussions of life-or-death proportions.
After sitting on the bill for so long, now is the time for the Senate to act. They reconvene this week and approving this should be a priority before the newly-elected senators are sworn in next term.
In times of emergency, no citizen of this state should be refused, declined or discouraged from getting medical attention.
Often governments end up resembling Sisyphus trying to push his rock uphill ad infinitum in the fight against underage drinking. While the fight against it should be continued, and methods of deterring, discouraging and punishing it should be continued to be explored and discussed, this is a matter of keeping kids alive.
This is not a concession in the fight against underaged drinking; this is an imperative.
