Justin Rebello’s commentary (“National IDs would stop subliminal profiling,” Jan. 11) touches on an issue that most certainly affects many students in Boston. While I can empathize with his pain, I do feel the need to bring up a few points that were not mentioned in his commentary and should have been.

First, Massachusetts state law explicitly prohibits accepting any ID for alcohol purchase except a Massachusetts license, a Massachusetts Liquor ID, a military ID or a U.S. passport. [Editor’s note: “The legal drinking age in Massachusetts is 21. Proper identification is a Massachusetts driver’s license or a liquor purchase identification card issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.” (M.G.L. ch. 312, acts of 1984)] Rebello stated that “liquor stores, bars and other establishments serving alcohol are required to utilize policies that alienate” students. This is a law that places are following, not a policy they are utilizing. Accepting anything else – for example, a 31-year-old from Rhode Island buying a beer at a Celtics game – is illegal.

Second, anyone with an out-of-state license – like Rebello – can go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles with proper additional documentation and receive a Massachusetts Liquor ID card for $25.

Third, there are currently federal mandates to the design of state licenses that are correlated to highway funding. For example, states must now print under-21 licenses in the vertical format, etc. So, no, saying that “the entire nation adheres to a singular ID format” would not be entirely correct, but there are many similarities. Anyway, don’t we already have a national form of ID? Yes, it’s called a passport. I’m not defending the current laws – surely they don’t make sense for people visiting the city for events or weekends. But for out-of-state college students who are blessed with free city and state services for eight to nine months of the year, shelling out an extra $25 so they don’t get turned away from bars makes sense. This way, the bouncers can’t mess things up, because everyone would be showing the same type of Massachusetts ID, the most technically advanced, tamper-resistant, and fake-proof license in the U.S. This was the intention of the laws in the first place.

– Will Schoch is a junior entrepreneurship major.