Daily Iowan

Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: Metro

Media Credit: Robin Svec/The Daily Iowan

It's been almost five months since the keg-registration policy was put into effect, and local liquor-store managers say they have seen no change in the number of kegs purchased.

Though some underage students have been caught trying to register kegs with fake IDs, Mark Harrod, the manager of the Liquor House, 326 S. Clinton St., says the registration policy has not deterred people from buying kegs.

"I thought at first that it would, but it hasn't affected [the sales] at all," he said.

Dee Jurgens of John's Grocery, 401 E. Market St., which mainly sells specialty kegs, agrees with Harrod. She said she hadn't noticed any changes in the number of kegs since the code went into effect on July 1.

Since then, vendors wishing to sell a keg must first order a keg registration booklet from Iowa's Alcoholic Beverages Division. On the form, people will then register their names, addresses, and driver's license numbers at the establishment they wish to purchase from. The form is stuck to the cold keg and the information from it is put into an official state keg-registration booklet, according to the Alcoholic Beverages Division.

The booklet that each store has can be seen by any law-enforcement officer at any time.

"People are still willing to register their kegs and/or take the risk of registering underage with fakes," Jurgens said, noting that John's Grocery does not sell to minors. In the store behind the register, employees tape up confiscated fake or illegally used IDs.

Harrod also noted that the policy was a good idea to curb the few instances of underage purchases and since it went into effect those who do get caught ordering kegs underage will be hit with a large fine.

And though for Harrod and Jurgens it's hard to know just how many kegs registered were done so by underage persons, both agree it's a step in the right direction.

Though it's true sales haven't gone up or down since summer, Jurgens said, keg registration is still a good thing to do. It is not much more time consuming than not doing it at all, she said.

"It's just another step forward for us here at the store," Jurgens said.

E-mail DI reporter Lauren Skiba at:

lauren-skiba@uiowa.edu

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