United States: Online sales of electronic cigarettes to minors remain poorly controlled

A study indicates that measures to restrict minors' access to online sales sites remain ineffective in the United States, despite the adoption of restrictive laws. The authors recommend strengthening controls on these sales, as well as sanctions in the event of infringement.

In the United States, online sales are estimated to cover 20% of the e-cigarette market, according to manufacturers. A study had also shown that, in Anglo-Saxon countries, online sales can constitute up to about a third of e-cigarettes. purchased by minors in the official commercial circuit[1].

However, the online sale of e-cigarettes is prohibited to minors under 21 in the United States. A 2020 law, referring to previous laws on the sale of tobacco products, provides that online sellers strengthen their system for controlling the age of customers. Regarding deliveries, the PACT Act of 2009 (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) already indicated, for tobacco products, that carriers must respect the conditions of packaging and indication, the keeping of records (age, registration) and the local laws of the states and jurisdictions.

The 2020 law also requires that a note on the package indicate that it contains an e-cigarette, and that the federal postal service cannot handle such deliveries, or those of any other tobacco product. Private delivery operators, such as UPS, FedEx or DHL, adopted an internal policy in 2021 prohibiting them from delivering e-cigarettes. American researchers wanted to ensure the effectiveness of these measures.

Three out of four online shopping sites do not verify customers' age

The researchers applied a proven and reproducible purchasing protocol. They tested the purchasing procedures of 64 U.S.-based online e-cigarette retailers[2]. More than three quarters (77 %) of these sites were accessible by simply declaring the date of birth or age (“21 years or older”).

Almost all of the sites (92 %) offered home delivery. Of these, delivery was free in 76 % cases, but only 38 % indicated that proof of identity would be required for delivery. Of the sites offering delivery, 76 % did not require age verification to access the online purchase page, and only 22 % required creating an account where age was authenticated. In 47 % cases, this delivery was made by the federal postal service, although this type of delivery is illegal. The remaining deliveries were offered via private carriers, thus violating both the regulations and the internal policies of these companies. In addition, on the sales sites, numerous references and allusions suggested that deliveries of vaping products are made in “discreet mail”, without mentioning the contents.

Call for more vigorous responses from public authorities

The researchers were therefore able to note that, despite a strengthening of the legislative arsenal, the online sale of e-cigarettes to minors remains insufficiently applied. They believe that the warning letters sent to offenders by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are clearly insufficient to counter this phenomenon: out of 189 letters of this type sent in June 2023 by the FDA, only 18 (9.5 %) concerned the online sale of e-cigarettes, without mention of age verification, or the type of delivery offered.

To remedy this situation, the authors of the study recommend a significant strengthening of the methods of checking the age of customers, for example with the help of an identity certification service provider. They also suggest increasing the number of checks on these online sales sites, and imposing significant and dissuasive sanctions on them in the event of an infringement. Among the five online sales sites stating that they do not offer delivery to their customers, three admitted that this was in response to regulatory changes, thus confirming the value of restrictive measures. However, according to the authors of the study, checks on the latter and appropriate sanctions for offenders remain essential.

MF