According to a new study conducted by UF's Department of Behavioral Science and Community Health, 20 percent of drinkers are underage, and those who are underage stay out later than those who are 21 years old or older.
"Gainesville has a pretty large drinking culture," David Munroe, a UF history senior said. "Students have pretty large social networks so they can find fake IDs and eventually you can find someone to borrow an ID from."
The study, published in the June issue of the Journal of American College Health, outlines the age of drinkers, blood-alcohol levels and drinker's intentions of driving later that evening.
The findings showed that more than half of the participants were intoxicated while being surveyed.
Fifty-five percent of the men and 59 percent of the women had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. The underage drinkers were found to have higher amounts of alcohol than those of age.
"I think younger kids would typically drink more in bars," Munroe said. "Once they get inside they can drink to their hearts' content."
305 men and 164 women participated in the study, which was conducted on four nights during July and August between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m., according to a release from the UF News Bureau.
Each participant was asked to blow into a Breathalyzer and answer a 15-question survey upon leaving a bar in the midtown bar district.
Other aspects of the study included participants' willingness to drive that evening after leaving the bar.
The study found that between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., 7.4 percent of the participants intended to drive within the hour, in contrast to the results from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m., in which 18.8 percent intended to drive.
The highest percentages came between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Of the 469 participants, 27.2 percent said they would drive when asked between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m.
Before the bars closed 38.6 percent said they would drive when asked between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. However, after the bars closed, that number dropped to 7.9 percent.
Establishments like The Swamp Restaurant are not surprised to hear the findings of the survey.
"I really think they are using a lot of fake IDs that are very good IDs," said the restaurant's general manager Mike Taphorn. "I wouldn't be surprised if [the results of the study] were accurate."
Taphorn said he has hired 12 people to continually watch for underage drinking at night.
He said that ID scanners have become obsolete due to underage drinkers borrowing real IDs from friends.
"We constantly check IDs and wristbands," he said. "I'd always say that the bars aren't purposely trying to serve these underage kids."
The Underage Prohibition in Alcohol Beverage Establishments Act, a Gainesville City ordinance that went into affect April 1, has had bar and club owners on the defense. The act punishes bars and clubs that have a specific number of underage drinking violations after 9 p.m.
"We've always had protocol and systems in place to keep an eye on underage drinkers," Taphorn said. "Just last week I confiscated 50 IDs to turn into GPD."
