Underage Drinking Legislation Ups Penalty for Fake ID Usage

Local bar managers say the new legislation will not affect their businesses.

The new measure, which was signed into law Oct. 4, states that it is a misdemeanor to knowingly possess or manufacture fake IDs, including driver's licenses and passports.

It also establishes an electronic system to verify North Carolina driver's licenses and dates of birth.

The law aims to eliminate loopholes in the law that allow underage individuals to easily use fake IDs. It also makes it a crime for a bar to give an underage person a wristband allowing access to alcohol.

Locke Page, general manager of Woody's Tar Heel Tavern and Grill, located at 175 E. Franklin St., said he does not expect the new legislation to deter local business.

"It won't change," he said. "Our bouncers have turned in fake IDs to (Alcohol Law Enforcement). If I was ALE, I would ask our bouncers how to identify fake IDs. There's almost certain pride in recognizing fake IDs."

But Chapel Hill Police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said it is too early to determine the impact the law will have arresting those with fake IDs.

"This is something that needs to be looked at a year from now," she said. "At this point, we haven't seen anything."

Mark Burnette, manager of He's Not Here, located at 112-1/2 W. Franklin St., said the new law will not change the way he runs his business.

"We're the hardest carders in Chapel Hill," he said. "We always stop (customers) at the door, not at the bar, which is what this bill is trying to do. So, it hasn't changed things."

But Burnette admitted that bouncers are not perfect, despite He's Not Here's success at identifying fake IDs.

"I have been at this job for 24 years, and we have never had a violation," he said. "That doesn't mean we have never had underage people in here, because each card is under the interpretation of whoever looks at the IDs. But Charlie Brown isn't getting in here with Snoopy's ID."

Page expressed concern that the law will not be effective in the long run.

"It will deter people to an extent, but it will only make a small dent," he said. "Initially, there's going to be a push from ALE, but I don't see them having the budget."

He added that he thinks the law is not enough to halt underage drinking.

"It would take a huge push to try to stop underage drinking," Page said. "I don't think this is a big enough push. I don't know if there will ever be one."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.