It’s been one year since DMV starting issuing the new Driver Licenses and ID cards with a vertical layout for persons under 21.
This is an important identification tool for licensees and employees of cardrooms and bars or convenience stores. Strict age rules apply to sales of cigarettes, lottery tickets, alcohol, and gambling — be it horse racing, cardroom poker, or slot machines at Indian Casinos. Make sure you and your employees know the rules (18 or 21) and are trained to check the new ID’s. See the DMV press release here.
Since 1994, the California Supreme Court has held that Decoy Programs are legal and not entrapment. The Decoy Program allows local law enforcement agencies to use persons under age 20 as decoys to buy alcoholic beverages from licensed premises. The decision to use the Decoy Program is up to each law enforcement agency.
Law enforcement agencies that choose to use the Decoy Program must follow these rules:
- The decoy must be under 20 years old;
- The decoy must appear under 21 years old;
- The decoy must carry his or her own I.D. showing the decoy’s correct date of birth or carry no I.D. A decoy who carries I.D. shall present it upon request to any seller of alcoholic beverages;
- The decoy must answer truthfully any questions about his or her age; and
- After the sale, the decoy must identify the seller, face to face.
- After completion of a decoy program the law enforcement agency must notify licensees of the results, whether or not the licensees violated the law.
(Rule 141, California Code of Regulations and Section 25658).