Alcohol
Using fake IDs

Do you know anyone who used a fake ID to get alcohol? Lauren thought it was exciting. Until the police found out.

Using forged IDs seemed totally cool the night Lauren joined friends at a bar. "My ID worked," Lauren says. "I had kind of a weird rush. I was getting pretty drunk." For what seemed just a second, she put down her purse. It was long enough for her purse to disappear.

The next day, she told her dad she had to cancel her credit cards. But he already knew. Someone had turned in Lauren's purse to the police. It was empty, except for her two licenses, real and fake.

Lauren's dad was angry. He knew she would lose her license, and sent her to the police station to handle it herself.

"They told me it was a real serious offense to have fake identification, a felony," Lauren says. "My stomach just dropped."

The police explained that fraud identification has been considered a more serious offense since September 11, 2001. They would send Lauren's case to the Motor Vehicle Registry, where people apply for driver's licenses.

Lauren was summoned for a hearing. Her license was revoked for six months, and she was fined $300. Her parents made her pay the fee with her own money.

"Is there anything I can do to change this?" Lauren asked the court. The answer was no.

The offense is permanently on her record. It appears whenever she applies for work. It will increase her auto insurance premium, which she has to pay herself.

"I'm going to be 21 next year, and then I would be able to go to the bars legally," Lauren says. "I could have waited. I am angry with myself. It was just so stupid and completely not worth it".