A group of Story County residents called underage drinking a major problem in Ames and advocated finding new ways to curb the problem.

A coalition of Story County residents hosted a panel discussion about alcohol abuse Tuesday night in the City Council Chambers of Ames City Hall. The Prevention Policy Board of Story County invited all policy makers, city officials, candidates and citizens to attend the discussion that focused on underage alcohol abuse in Ames.

The six-member panel outlined trends toward increased underage consumption of more potent beverages at younger ages and offered suggestions to policy makers about how to address the problem.

Ames Police Lt. Mike Brennan, one of the panelists, said law enforcement officials are concerned with underage drinkers in Ames bars.

“We’ve seen a definite increase in bars in Campustown over the last few years but we don’t have a larger number of legal drinkers,” Brennan said.

“We’re seeing more underage people in bars and fake IDs are prevalent.”

Kathryn Anderson, a panelist, said drinking on college campuses can pose a deadly threat.

Anderson, senior in elementary education, said an average of 1,400 college students die as a result of alcohol-related injuries every year, and 70,000 students are subject to alcohol-related sexual abuse annually.

To curb the dangers of underage drinking and over-consumption, she said lawmakers should consider enacting policies such as keg restrictions and banning open containers in public.

“Given a chance,” she said, “these laws could make a positive difference at Iowa State.”

City election candidates who attended the discussion agreed that underage drinking is a problem in Ames.

Ann Campbell, mayoral candidate, said she would take the ideas brought up during the discussion under consideration if elected.

“Drinking is certainly a large problem,” Campbell said. “It’s the fix and how to cure it that’s hard to figure out.”

She said she would like to explore stricter limitations on drink specials in Ames bars, and, although she supports the keg ordinance, she said she would like to see a similar policy passed by the state legislature.

“A lot of these suggestions would be effective on a state level,” she said. “The keg registration ordinance would be one of them.”

3rd Ward City Council Candidate Ryan Doll, senior in political science, attended the discussion and said he agreed that current alcohol policies were insufficient.

“Programs we’re using are the same ones that were in place 20 years ago,” Doll said.

“We need to look into better options.”