Unconfirmed report: Federal ID no good for booze

Seen on Facebook: "FYI: The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has informed us that US Passports are no longer acceptable identification to be served alcohol. Please make sure you bring your valid state ID, regardless of age."


I haven't been able to find this anywhere else yet to confirm, but if it is true this is ridiculous.  Even more ridiculous are those people who seem to think this is alright.  Now, some background information:  Alaska does label some people as alcohol restricted, typically for those convicted of DUIs.  The person is prohibited from purchasing alcohol and this is indicated on their driver's license.


So, if true, this is infringing on me to better keep track of criminals.  And apparently people are fine with it because "everyone has a driver's license."  Last I checked, one wasn't required to have a driver's license in this country.  Admittedly, this state has a very severe drinking problem.  But is this the way to fix it?  I don't think so.  One needs to address the social and economic roots of the problem.


Now, the ABCB's FAQ still states that "A passport issued by the United States or Foreign Government, an ID card issued by a United States Government agency , a drivers license issued by any of the 50 states or an identification card issued by the same state agency that issues drivers licenses. All "valid" identification must contain a photograph of the bearer and a statement of the bearer's age or date of birth."


Next question is, do they stop at passports?  What about military IDs?  Or any other ID card issued by government agencies?  Apparently federally issued ID isn't good enough!  I'll be keeping an eye on this to see what happens.


Side note:  When I was on the east coast visiting family, a friend and I went to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner.  We both had out of state licenses and were informed that they needed another form of identification proving that we really lived in that state.  At first they wanted photo ID.  What state issues multiple forms of photo identification (and I was NOT about to pull out my CCW permit, not in that hoplophobic state!).  They eventually accepted my military ID, which doesn't say a word about Alaska, and my friend's car insurance, which doesn't have a photo ID.  Bizarre!