6 Underage College Students: Fuel of the Fake ID Black Market
Alcohol consumption throughout American history has always been, excluding the prohibition era, culturally acceptable. Many Americans recall their first memory drinking alcohol: a common example being parents giving their children a sip of beer, with its taste causing immediate regret. Therefore, there exists no surprise that underage Americans consume alcohol regularly, especially those attending college. Underage drinking, along with general alcohol consumption, is deeply rooted in American society. College campuses across America are packed with underage students who desire consuming alcohol, illegally. Currently, it is estimated that 4 in 5, or 80% of college students consume alcohol.1 These college students create an expansive demand for a resource. That resource will specifically allow underage college students to purchase and consume alcohol at their own will, which will fulfill their needs. The resource they desire is fake identification, commonly referred to as a fake ID; however, these IDs are illegal. Fake IDs portray someone who is not of legal drinking age to appear 21, therefore allowing them to purchase and drink alcohol in public. Also, overseas companies, mainly located in Asia and also Canada, utilize modern technology to pounce at the opportunity to supply this demand, thus creating a black market that thousands of underage college students fuel and participate in. The combination of the desire for underage college students to consume alcohol and the corresponding demand for fake IDs fuels a strong and sturdy black market with continuity that does not appear to be slowing down soon.
The desire to consume alcohol while underage is deeply rooted in America’s college culture and drives these students to purchase fake IDs. Regardless of an individual’s background in America, they have been exposed to alcohol countless times throughout their lives. A person’s first contact with alcohol may have been with their parents, with friends, or in an unfortunate circumstance. For example, a 19-year-old college student, Larry, described his experiences with alcohol before college as “infrequent.” 4 After one semester at Indiana University-Bloomington, Larry purchased a fake ID, now describing his experience with drinking at IU a ‘frequent,” also stating that drinking is a “normal part of college life.” Larry felt like he was the “only one without a fake [ID]” on his dorm floor.4 Without a fake ID, Larry was not able to go out with the other underage college students on his dorm floor. Clearly, alcohol consumption is embedded into college culture and will stay. This example gives personal insight to why underage students will purchase fake IDs. The need to participate fuels the desire to purchase a fake ID.
On a similar note, other strong factors that fuel underage college students’ desire to consume alcohol include herd mentality and the university’s profile. People’s behavior conforms to those of the group to which they belong. Therefore, if someone is around people drinking, they will be more likely to engage in drinking. According to Robert Cialdini, author of “Influence,” people conforming to those around them is called social proof.3 When in doubt, humans will follow others around them. Across the United States, approximately 65% of college students consume alcohol who are of traditional college student age, being 18-22.10 However, institutions with strong athletic and Greek life cultures have higher instances of alcohol consumption.11 Being a part of the Big Ten Conference, Indiana University-Bloomington has a strong Greek life and strong athletic culture, leading to increased alcohol consumption among all students, especially minors. Jett, a 20-year-old fraternity member attending Indiana University states that males who live in fraternity houses are likely to drink “almost every day of the week, regardless of [their] age.” 12 Furthermore, he believes Greek life parties make it “easy to consume alcohol as a minor,” stating that every fraternity party he attends has “plenty [of alcohol] to drink.” 12 To conclude his interview, Jett explained that a majority of partygoers at Greek life parties are underage because there is a low risk of getting in trouble for underage consumption. Obviously, all of Jett’s comments concur with increased drinking amongst college students attending a university with strong Greek and athletic culture. Herd mentality is a clear, strong driver of underage consumption. In American pop culture, the movie “Animal House” is known for being based upon a screenwriter’s involvement in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at Dartmouth University. The film depicts Greek life at a university, including the use of alcohol and drugs, while simultaneously touching on discriminatory remarks.20 The desire for underage college students to consume alcohol is directly affected by the people they hang around, the things they watch, and also the college campus culture as a whole.
One final factor fueling the desire for underage alcohol consumption is the effects of alcohol itself. Objectively speaking, most Americans would describe the experience of drinking alcohol as fun and relaxing. Alcohol increases the production of the human body’s feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and endorphins.13 These hormones give the body a feeling of pleasure, along with a calm state of mind. Therefore, after someone has had a good experience with the effects of alcohol, they want to feel it again.13 Being a recurring theme among minors, who have had little experience with consuming alcohol. Kristina, a 19-year-old sophomore at Indiana University, says alcohol makes her “feel relaxed and [more] social.” 14 Clearly, alcohol’s effects drive Kristina to drink before attending a social gathering. Alcohol will make her talk more openly and confidently with others, driving her to feel good about herself when in that state of mind. Overall, the desire for underage college students to consume alcohol results from the herd mentality on college campuses, the college culture, and the addicting effects of alcohol.
The existing desire for underage college students to consume alcohol creates a continuous demand for fake identification. Minors do not have direct access to alcohol unless they possess some type of resource. While this resource could be a friend who is of age to purchase alcohol, it can also be an older sibling. On an important note, Larry claims it is common to feel “like I am annoying or nagging [my sister]” when asking his sister, who is of legal age, to purchase alcohol for him.4 Therefore, underage college students seek another resource that makes it convenient and easy for them, oftentimes finding that a fake ID suffices. Fake IDs seem like a good investment for college students. They eliminate the extra cost of paying a person to buy you alcohol, create the opportunity to obtain alcohol at your will, and introduce convenience into an underage college student’s life.4 According to the Mankato Public Safety Administration in Minnesota, students returning to college campuses is correlated with an increased rate of fake ID usage.17 Over time, demand for fake IDs amongst underage college students has always existed.5 This demand has further increased over the previous two decades due to technological advancements, which make the fake IDs easier to make and replicate. These underage college students provide a continuous demand for fake IDs, which is not the only driver of the corresponding demand.
Demand for fake IDs is not only continuous, but it’s also vast. Across America, there are countless underage college students doing everything they can to get their hands on a fake ID. As previously stated, underage college students’ desire to consume alcohol calls for a fake ID. Fake IDs provide underage college students with accessibility to illegally get alcohol. A survey done on 246 college students attending The University of Ohio State found that “69 percent claim to have used or owned a fake ID.” 19 This is yet another example of how deeply ingrained underage alcohol consumption is within college culture. Furthermore, technology has caused a tug-of-war effect between producing and catching fake IDs.5 Technology allows fake IDs to be created with high precision and accuracy, to the point where they appear real. However, technological advancements have also made identifying fake IDs easier, especially with training and experience. Therefore, students are willing to risk getting caught drinking underage because of the highly realistic and trusted fake IDs. Overall, the continuity of the fake ID black market is ensured by vast demand created from the desire to consume alcohol underage.
College students do not believe obtaining alcohol is a difficult or troubling process when using a fake ID, which also drives demand for fake IDs. This seemingly aligns with a National Health Institute report that 51% of college students that are not of age reported how easy it was for them to obtain alcohol. Of that percentage, 18% claimed that it was achieved using a fake ID.3 This is an alarming, yet somewhat expected percentage of college students who find it extremely easy to obtain alcohol because of the plethora of opportunities available to them. Therefore, the positives of fake IDs brought forward in the previous paragraph should surprise few about why the demand is so high for them among underage college students. Simply put, underage college students want to get a fake ID. Demand is always high too because fake IDs can be confiscated, a fade, or simply of bad quality. This demand is sustained because there will always be underage college students who desire using fake IDs due to their convenience and accessibility. Overall, simply the convenience and accessibility that comes with possession of a fake ID creates a continuous demand that results from underage college students wanting alcohol.
On a side note, it is important to clarify that while the demand for fake IDs is usually prevalent among underage students, demand is not limited to that. First, many other types of fake IDs are sought illegally, with people utilizing them for purposes other than the goal to appear twenty-one. Also, fake IDs do not always exist as the traditional drivers license ID that many American citizens have. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Counterterrorism Division, an arrest made on a failed shipment of fake IDs in 2003 “…included a Defense Intelligence Agency identification, a United Nations Observer Badge and a federal concealed weapons permit.” 6 Clearly, fake IDs can give somebody a lot of power and cause harm. The people that usually seek out other forms of fake IDs are also subject to higher penalties. When someone is caught using a fake ID while purchasing alcohol, they often do not face incarceration and only have to pay a simple fine.16 If an immigrant is caught with a fake green card, they are subject to incarceration, probation, and immigration consequences including removal from the United States and a bar from reentry or application for citizenship.18 Even though fake IDs used by underage college students are most prevalent, they are not subject to the highest punishment as other fake IDs break larger laws
Furthermore, technological advancements and ID scanners allow for higher quality fake IDs that will be harder to detect as counterfeit.5 However, technological advancements and increased gatekeeper training are allowing for greater capability to identify fake IDs, creating a tug-of-war effect between the successful use and successful identification of fake IDs.8 Fake IDs come in many forms, with all of them having their own unique use. A common theme among fake ID users is that the fake IDs give them access to something they should not have access to. Overall, the demand for fake identification is not solely driven by underage college students, but instead the demand is driven by anyone who needs a form of identification to access something they cannot have normally.
A supplier is needed to fulfill the fake ID demand from underage college students, creating a black market made up of competing ID factories from both local and overseas suppliers.5 In order for a market to start, there has to be an opportunity present to make a profit. These suppliers jump at the opportunity resulting from the demand for fake IDs amongst the underage college student population across America. This opportunity clearly has massive profit potential. In a congressional hearing, it was discussed that suppliers had million-dollar businesses, often exceeding thousands of fake ID orders daily.5 However, one glaring issue the suppliers face is how to advertise, and also disguise the fake IDs when shipping them to the underage college students. Before the rise of the internet, it was nearly impossible for a supplier to operate because they had no advertising ability. As a result of the internet, suppliers could now create websites that made ordering fake IDs extremely accessible and straightforward, while also advertising on the internet. With the advertisement challenge solved, modern technology allowed the creation of fake IDs that looked completely authentic.5 Now that the ID factories have a good product, they use jewelry boxes or another product as a disguise in order to ship the fake ID order past the border and customs patrol.15 Once it is passed security and in American mail circulation, the fake ID will reach its location. This process is the exact process that ID factories use in Canada and America. Furthermore, this process is relatively inexpensive for the ID factory, allowing for massive profit and greater capacity to distribute high quality fake identification. On another note, the demand from underage college students is too large for one ID factory to supply. As a result, underage college students’ desire to consume alcohol, which produces the demand for fake IDs, created a competitive black market where suppliers compete to have the best website to order the fake IDs and products to sell to the consumers.
The supply of fake IDs will continue to circulate in the black market due to endless demand. Currently, suppliers are continuing to produce fake IDs and distribute them efficiently. Since the government knows they can only do so much to prevent the production and distribution of fake IDs, laws are formed with intent to punish those who get caught using their fake ID. An underage college student who is caught possessing alcohol, using a fake ID, or has consumed alcohol will receive a class C misdemeanor. Receiving this misdemeanor often carries no jail time, along with a measly fine of no more than $500, which most college students pay using their parents or extra money.17 In reality, this punishment is not stopping anybody from purchasing and using fake IDs. If the government believes that fake IDs are a serious security threat, then a stricter punishment is required.6 Back to the point, the government cannot effectively regulate the entrance of fake IDs into and within the country due to disguise and human drive. The supply of fake IDs will continue to circulate in the market due to a steady demand, unless the government finds a way to crack down on the black market.
Overall, the desire for underage college students to consume alcohol is a direct result of college campus life in America, the societal norm to drink, and herd mentality. All of these factors are especially relevant to universities with a history of athletic excellence and storied Greek life cultures. There is little surprise that underage alcohol consumption is so prevalent among underage college students at Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, and Big 12 universities. One novel thought that Larry discussed during his interview was that the culture surrounding underage alcohol consumption within various universities has prevailed and will continue to prevail overtime. I know of parents who claim college years are the time to try new things. This seems and is a bit cliché, yet college has historically been a time for new adults to find their own path and try new things, including increased alcohol consumption. This example shows just how embedded underage consumption is in college culture across America. Furthermore, this embedded culture creates a desire for underage college students to consume alcohol, which then creates a demand for fake IDs. In fact, the fake ID specifically demanded is a driver’s license. Unknowingly, the underage college students who purchase fake IDs fuel and provide continuity to a black market. Approximately 32.2% of students have owned a fake ID throughout their fourth semester in college, which emphasizes underage students.3 This is almost a third of the sample population, which is a large amount considering America’s college population. In total, underage college students provide the fake ID black market with stability, making the black market sustainable and powerful. The suppliers are able to fulfill the constant demand utilizing technological advancements and tactics that avoid confiscation of their product. Also, government interventions have little effect halting the purchase and acquisition of fake identification, which leads to a reasonable inference that the fake ID market will continue to grow and expand, providing suppliers with wealth and consumers with the fulfillment of their desire to consume alcohol underage.
*While all interviews were conducted with real students, all names have been changed to protect their identities
Works Cited
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