Actually Alabama state forbids persons who are under nineteen years of age from being admitted into any establishment that serves alcohol. A patron may be admitted into a bar at the age of nineteen, although it would be against the law for alcohol to be served to anyone under the age of 21.

Any establishment that serves alcohol is required to be licensed by the Alabama Beverage Control Board. There are three types of licenses: (1) 010 Lounge Retail, (2) 020 Restaurant Retail and (3) 031 Private Club.

Many of the minors who are admitted into bars in T-Town are University of Alabama students. The University, according to College Factual‘s The University of Alabama Student Age Diversity Breakdown, has 34.5% of its nearly forty thousand students in the 18-19 age group and 30.9% in the 20-21 age group.

Since the total enrollment in 2017 was 38,563, that means that over 24,000 students can’t be legally provided with alcohol. Many cannot even be admitted into bars.

Enforcement of the restrictions on alcohol service are complicated not only by the large numbers of students that frequent bars in the campus vicinity but by the common use of fake IDs.

At a recent concert at Tuscaloosa’s Amphitheater a serving line was held up by one person who was belligerently insisting that he be served beer although he only had a rumpled, torn paper copy of a driver’s license. He left without being served, receiving a few dirty looks from people who had been forced to wait for several minutes until the situation was resolved. The Amphitheater server had been practicing due diligence. The individual seemed to not be used to that sort of thing.

Of course the University of Alabama has a clear policy on alcohol use:

Individuals under 21 years of age are not permitted to consume alcohol or be in possession of alcohol. Alcohol paraphernalia (which includes but is not limited to: empty beer cans or bottles, shot glasses, etc.) are prohibited and considered a violation of policy.

The bar codes when they are observed in T-Town promote public safety and result in a healthier community.