This article is part one of a three-part series about underage drinking.
While it is getting easier for underage college students to obtain fake IDs, bars and liquor stores are finding new ways to crack down and drain the bottle.
With advanced technology, realistic fake IDs have surfaced, making it harder for authorities to recognize false IDs and even easier for college students to get away with owning one.
“It’s so easy to get a fake, and where I’m from it’s a necessity,” said Boston University College of General Studies freshman Becca, who asked to keep her last name anonymous. “At least 50 percent of my friends have one right now, but almost all of my friends have had one at some point or another.”
Most students said they obtain fake IDs from the stereotypical, “shady” friend of a friend who has connections, but some say that it is as easy as going on the Internet.
College of Communication freshman Cheryn, who also asked to keep her last name anonymous, said she purchased her fake ID on a website for $100.
“They give you two IDs, in case one gets taken away, and they’re pretty good quality,” she said. “No one has ever questioned mine.”
Along with the use of actual fake IDs, the use of another person’s ID, usually of an older sibling or friend, is fairly common.
“Most people just use someone else’s ID,” Becca said. “If you look like the person on the ID, then it is hard for them to prove it’s not you.”
Managers and employees at local liquor stores said that offenders receive harsh penalties when they use fake IDs.
Ryan Healy, the manager at Blanchard’s Liquors in Allston— the largest retailer of beer and alcohol in Mass and therefore under the rules of the Alcoholic Beverage Control, said there is a specific procedure for carding clients at the store.
“We have terminals under every register that know military IDs, overseas IDs and passports,” he said.
Healy said that they keep IDs of offenders and enter them into databases, which are then sent to the Boston Police Department, the state police and educational institutions within a 60-mile radius of the store.
“We train our employees to know the proper ins and outs and have ID books so they know what they look like,” Healy said.
He said that on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays no one can enter the store without having identification properly checked.
“In a week, we get about five to fifteen fake IDs,” he said.
An employee at the Allston Star Market Wine Shop who asked to remain anonymous said that the store also uses a machine to verify that IDs are real and then asks clients for a back-up form of identification.
“Saturday morning, from 8 [a.m.] to 3 [p.m.] I caught seven people,” he said.
When it comes to getting into clubs, students said they agree that it is usually easier for girls. Sometimes, admittance into a club or bar is as easy as a hair flip or flashy smile.
“In a club, if the bouncer takes your fake and realizes it actually isn’t real, they usually just ask for extra money,” Becca said. “And for girls, it’s always easier. It’s all up to the bouncer.”
The BU Police Department said it is utilizing more serious punishments to counteract the use of fake IDs by minors.
“Using [a fake ID], to procure alcohol is a civil charge and can result in a $300 fine, and their right to operate is suspended,” said BUPD officer Peter Shin.
But Shin said that most cases are dealt with in a harsher way.
“Most charges, depending on the circumstances, deal out a $500 fine, right to operate suspended, possible community service and possible imprisonment,” he said.
The punishment of the crime also stretches into a student’s academic life on campus. In response to the use of fake IDs, the University Statement on Illegal Drugs and Alcohol threatens expulsion, loss of financial aid or housing privileges on top of the fines and penalties imposed by Mass. Law.
“We haven’t seen too many yet, it really comes and goes. But we have seen some professionally made ones, which is the big concern,” Shin said.
Shin said that offenders are caught in many different ways including on stops, or from calls from liquor stores, clubs and security.
“When we go on medical calls, and the IDs come out, then you see a problem,” he said.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
