Author Of Indiana's Lifeline Law Says The Measure Still Misunderstood

The author of Indiana’s Lifeline Law says the measure is still misunderstood among students and parents.  To help change that, state and youth advocates are engaging in a widespread campaign to educate Hoosiers about the law meant to prevent underage drinking deaths.

The Lifeline Law was initially passed in 2012. It provides immunity from underage drinking charges for drunk minors seeking medical attention or police help for themselves or someone else.  The bill’s author Indianapolis Republican Senator Jim Merritt,  and Attorney General Greg Zoeller have toured Indiana’s college campuses and high schools since it was passed, educating young Hoosiers about the law. But Merritt says that job isn’t finished.

“I heard a situation on another college campus where the resident assistant had told the kids that if there were a crisis or some sort of tragedy in the making, that one person call and everyone else scatter,” Merrit said.

Over the last two months, a social media campaign, via Facebook and Pandora, using the message “Make the Call, Stay and Cooperate” targeted Indiana’s major college campuses, reaching hundreds of thousands of students.  Emmis Communications Vice President John Kesler says as the campaign continues in the future, he knows it must evolve using information from students themselves.

“Let’s reverse engineer the situation and see what they’re doing and have them be a part of the process on ‘How do you we reach you,’” Kesler said.

He says the campaign also uses banner ads on major websites, along with TV and radio spots aimed at parents, encouraging them to talk to their kids about the Lifeline Law.