LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas minors hoping to buy a case of beer or a pack of cigarettes now face another obstacle.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and state revenue officials on Monday announced new driver's licenses and identification cards that make it easier to identify who's underage.
The cards - shaped vertically, unlike the traditional horizontal design - will be easier to identify than scanning a card for a date of birth, Huckabee said.
"Right now, if a person goes into a convenience store or a supermarket and attempts to purchase alcohol or any tobacco products, the clerk has to look at the birth date and do some quick computing to figure out if the person is old enough," Huckabee said, holding a prototype of the new license alongside his driver's license.
"It's real easy to understand why there are minors who end up purchasing alcohol and tobacco, and the clerk's excuse is 'I made a mistake in the computing,"' Huckabee said. "Today, we'd like to announce that is being eliminated."
The state began issuing the licenses Monday, but underage drivers are not required to switch over to the new licenses. Purchasing software for the new cards cost the state about $60,000.
"It seems like a simple thing, but sometimes simple things make all the difference," Assistant Revenue Commissioner Mike Munns said. "It's always a problem, a constant problem and we think this is going to go a long way in resolving this issue."
Of the 1.9 million active driver's licenses in the state, 186,475 belong to drivers under the age of 21, state officials say.
Munns said he doesn't think the new licenses will cause clerks, bartenders and others to pay less attention to the date of birth or pictures on regular horizontal licenses.
Underneath the driver's photo, the license will list the date when the driver turns 21. If the driver was under 18 at the time the license was issued, it will also list the date when the driver turns 18.
"There's a serious penalty out there for using fraudulent documentation," Munns said. "There's always going to be those who are going to try and beat the system and people who try to copy this or what else we have."
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