Jake Johnson has had the pleasure of being 21 since he was 18 years old.

Johnson, like an abundance of other ISU students, used a fake ID for almost three years to buy booze and to get into bars in the Ames area.

Johnson, junior in pre-business, got his ID from a family member, and says IDs are easy to obtain and just as easy to use in Ames.

“People get them on the Internet, people get them from people who make them or you get it from somebody who just looks like you, which is the best way,” he says. “If it looks like you, all you have to do is show a little confidence. It’s really easy to use.”

Johnson estimates that thousands of underage students at Iowa State use a fake ID to buy alcohol and to get into bars around town.

“Everybody I know that’s underage has one,” he says. “If you’re over the age of 18, in my mind there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it, because I think that’s what the drinking age should be anyway.”

Johnson echoes the popular nonchalant sentiment of ISU students toward fake IDs, and the general acceptance of their use around town. Ames law enforcement officials also accept that fake IDs are used in Ames on a regular basis, although their attitude toward the issue is less carefree.

Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kessel says although Ames has a problem with the use of fake IDs, the same problem exists in almost every college town in the country.

“Any time you have a community where you’ve got a large population of persons who are not 21 and desire to enter a bar, you’re certainly going to have a problem with it,” Kessel says. “That’s not just Iowa State University – that’s pretty much a universal problem.”

Jerry Stewart, director of the Department of Public Safety, said he agrees.

“The use of fake IDs in Ames seems to be in line with the experience of other university communities,” Stewart says. “We encounter them in field contact, seize them whenever possible and file appropriate charges.”

According to Iowa Code, it is a misdemeanor in Iowa to allow someone else to use your ID, to use the ID of another person or use a fake ID.

Stewart says Ames and ISU police officers are well-trained to recognize fraudulent or altered IDs, and both departments usually keep confiscated IDs for training purposes.

Putting their ID training to work, Ames and ISU police officers use several methods designed to curb underage drinking in bars and other locales. These methods include random compliance checks of liquor retailers, as well as undercover sting operations to see if minors are being allowed into bars or buying alcohol at stores.

“If you hold a license to sell or provide, we will check your establishment,” Kessel says. “If you are a bar owner, if you are a convenience store – as long as you have the ability to dispense alcohol, we’ll do a compliance check on your establishment.”

Kessel says these compliance checks are done less frequently than they used to be, and the amount of checks simply depends on the manpower at hand.

“They’re certainly not done nightly,” Kessel says. “We used to have a specific shift that was comprised of four officers who worked specifically on alcohol-related offenses. We phased that out, and now it really hinges on time and officer availability to walk bars and check IDs.”

If liquor retailers are caught selling alcohol to minors or allowing minors into their bar, they can be cited and fined for violating their liquor license. Multiple citations can lead to suspension or revocation of the license, which is the source of livelihood for many businesses.

“Here’s the general rule: If you admit minors on your premises and you are responsible for that liquor license, then you can be held liable for providing alcohol to minors,” he says.

With that in mind, Stewart says most retailers are adamant about complying with laws regarding underage drinking.

“It works to their benefit,” he says. “The ramifications of the potential loss of a liquor license are severe and costly.”

For this reason, many drinking establishments and liquor retailers require that their employees undergo ID education before permitting them to sell alcohol or admit patrons into a bar.

Chase Golik, a bouncer at Cy’s Roost, 121 Welch Ave., says anyone who serves alcohol or checks IDs at Cy’s is required to take an ID class sponsored by the City of Ames and the Ames Police Department. Golik says he confiscates fake IDs regularly while working the door at Cy’s, but most likely misses a few.

“It depends on how busy it is,” says Golik, senior in industrial technology. “On a Friday or Saturday, you could get anywhere from zero to 10 fakes. You can’t be perfect – you’re probably not going to get every one.”

Cy’s Roost had been cited seven times this year for having underage persons on the premises. Six citations for minors on the premises had been issued in August. Five of those were issued in one night.

To encourage compliance, however, Cy’s Roost offers a $50 bar tab to the bouncer who confiscates the most fake IDs in a month. Golik says Mickey’s Irish Pub, 109 Welch Ave., has a similar practice – it offers its employees $15 for every ID confiscated.

Golik says he spends about 10 seconds examining each ID, unless he notices something dubious about it.

“I usually just check the birth date, expiration date and the picture,” Golik says. “If any of those are fishy, I look in-depth. If it’s suspicious, I ask for another form of ID, and if they don’t have it, I usually put it in my pocket and tell them they can grab a cop to verify it is them.”

Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits, 3615 Lincoln Way, has a different policy on fake IDs.

Manager Adam Hotz has worked at the store for three years, and was required by Hy-Vee to attend a state-sponsored ID training program and pass a written test at the end of the program. Nonmanagement employees, however, are not required to undergo formal training, and simply receive instruction passed on from their superiors.

Ames Police have conducted undercover compliance checks several times at the store, and the store’s employees have never sold to one of the underage recruits.

Despite corrective measures, the use of false identification seems to be a constant occurrence among underage students in Ames. Most students, liquor retailers and even law enforcement members are resigned to this, including Kessel, who says the problem will not go away.

“There’s always going to be someone trying to gain admittance to an alcohol establishment who’s under the legal age with either someone else’s ID or with a fake ID,” Kessel says.

Perhaps one reason for the persistency of this issue is the unquestioning and even supportive attitude of many students toward fake IDs, like that of ISU student Matt Klein.

Klein, sophomore in marketing, had and used a fake ID for several years before he turned 21 and never got caught using it.

“It was extremely easy to use,” Klein says.

“I think everybody thought I was 21 because it looked pretty good and I used it with confidence. I don’t think anyone ever knew.”

Even if people had known, Klein says, it wouldn’t have stopped him from using his fake ID. He says fake IDs are so commonplace in Ames and at Iowa State that it doesn’t matter if you are caught using one.

“I couldn’t even count the number of people I know that have fake IDs. Even if you don’t have a fake ID, your buddy has one,” Klein says. “As long as you use it responsibly and you’re minding your own business about it, who cares? It’s not like you’re 12 years old.”