We’ve all seen it — cops bust into the bar, throwing out MIP’s like candy at a parade, carding everyone in sight. No one can leave the joint without showing a valid ID.
What’s in the future for the unlucky students who only have a fake ID? A trip to the slammer, a $1,000 fine, and some angry parents are some possible consequences. But knowing the consequences doesn’t stop underage students from using the fakes two or three times a week at Denver area bars.
A freshman fake ID user shed some light on the situation.
“The social scene at college these days is at the point where people can’t interact unless they’re intoxicated,” said the 18-year-old male student.
“Personally, I’m not a big drinker, but the bar is the only place that has parties. The house parties are busted so quickly, that without an ID you are left out of the social scene.”
Students seem to agree that the only way to hang out with your peers and meet classmates is to get into bars. Greg, a 21-year-old junior and former fake ID user, said, “If there were frat parties and house parties that didn’t get busted within a half hour, I would never have had to use my fake. Everybody who’s cool went to the bars.”
Some went as far as to say that DU’s policy encourages going to bars as an underage student.
“The policy forces kids to go to bars whereas other schools just have their parties on campus,” said the male freshman. “The school acts like it can control underage drinking, but the policy only makes it so that if something bad goes down its just harder for the students to get help.”
Another reason students use their ID’s so often is simply because they aren’t afraid of being caught.
“It’s so easy here,” said one freshman woman. “The possibility of you getting caught is pretty slim.”
“Nobody ever got busted so I was never that worried that I would,” said Greg. “Plus, my inhibitions were usually lowered whenever I was using it.”
Bars like Fagan’s on East Evans Avenue and Heavenly Daze on Kalamath Street say otherwise.
“We’ve experienced kids coming in with fake IDs in the past. We have a book we can match it up with,” said Fagan’s general manager Richard Hill. “We’ve become known for being strict on them so we don’t get so many anymore.”
Similarly, Kristin Almy, a bartender at Heavenly Daze, won’t be fooled by a fake ID.
“I just tell the kids that I won’t take it away, just not to try to use it here. I won’t let them sit at my bar if they’re not 21 either, to protect myself.”
Hill said that most bars take the “kids will be kids” attitude and will not take students’ IDs. Officer Brian Kamozzi and the Denver police will do much more than turn students away.
“It’s classified as a misdemeanor or a petty offense, but you can get up to a year in prison or a $1,000 fine,” Kamozzi said. “If you know it’s wrong and you do it and you get caught, you bite the bullet on that one.”
While getting turned away from bars, getting their ID taken or being hauled off to jail scares students, the prospect of fitting into the social scene often wins students over.
“I use mine three times a week or so,” said the freshman girl. “Every time I go I freak out though.”
