In California, online e-cigarette retailers do not always follow regulations regarding age verification, shipping methods, and flavor restrictions. This is according to researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego.[1].
To limit youth access to vaping products, the E-Cigarette Online Sales Prevention Act of 2020 banned the use of the United States Postal Service (USPS) for shipping products of vaping and made it compulsory to verify age upon delivery using an identity document. Restrictions on the sale of flavored tobacco have also been adopted in 8 US states (including California) and 392 cities or counties[2].
Products easily accessible online
Although restrictions on the sale of tobacco and flavored vaping have been adopted in California, they do not always cover e-commerce. For example, in 2022, California Senate Bill 793 banned the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products at point-of-sale locations across the state, but gave counties the choice to implement these restrictions on the Internet.
For this study, researchers asked 16 people to purchase flavored vaping products online from 78 different retailers and have them delivered to their homes. Eight buyers were from the city of San Diego, where an ordinance restricts the sale of flavored tobacco products, including online sales.
The other eight buyers were from other San Diego County communities, which don’t have the same internet restrictions. Sales bans only apply in physical sales locations. The results showed that delivery did not differ significantly between buyers in these two jurisdictions. Of the total 156 transaction attempts, 73% were processed and 67% were delivered. Of all deliveries made, 81% were made by UPSP, despite the ban in force. Additionally, 9% of these products come from services such as UPS and FedEx, which have adopted policies prohibiting the delivery of tobacco and vaping products.
No age checks upon delivery
In total, of deliveries made, just 1% of shoppers had their ID scanned, while more than three in four shoppers (78%) said they had no interaction with delivery staff. 15% of buyers indicated that they had been in contact with the delivery person upon receipt but had no check of their identity document. Finally, 6% of buyers had their ID checked but not scanned, according to the survey results.
According to the director of the American Lung Association, the online sale of vaping products is very problematic because in addition to non-compliance with the law by postal services, retailer websites do not carry out any age verification. the buyer in advance.
In France, the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) had established similar findings concerning the online sale of vaping products. Of around fifteen websites monitored in 2023, 80% of them do not present an information banner prohibiting the sale of vaping products to minors and only one website has implemented a reinforced control system to prevent the sale to minors.
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[1] Harati RM, Ellis SE, Satybaldiyeva N, et al. Online Retailer Nonadherence to Age Verification, Shipping, and Flavor Restrictions on E-Cigarettes. JAMA. Published online November 11, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.21597
[2] Jon Healey, Online vape retailers ignore rules meant to protect minors, new UCSD study finds, Los Angeles Times, published November 12, 2024, accessed November 13, 2024
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