A new study published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) Pediatrics found that it is almost laughably easy for minors to buy electronic cigarettes online.
The University of North Carolina Internet Tobacco Vendors Study asked 11 teens between the ages of 14 and 17 to go online and attempt to purchase e-cigs from 98 vendors. Seventy-five of the 98 vendors filled orders placed by the kids.
The study concluded that minors were able to place and receive orders because of insufficient age verification measures by the online sites. There was also no attempt to verify age by delivery companies, with 95 percent of orders being left at the door. Even in the cases where teens answered the door, none of the shipping companies verified age before dropping off the package.
E-cigs were first introduced in the U.S. market in 2007 and grew into a $2 billion market by 2013. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of American teens who tried e-cigs grew from 4.7 percent in 2011 to 10 percent a year later. The number of middle and high school kids who used e-cigs reached 1.78 million in 2012.
The UNC study found that the only verification process that stopped kids from buying e-cigs online was a requirement for the purchaser to include a legitimate social security number and birth date. Unfortunately, the security risks associated with providing this information does not make it a viable alternative going forward. In its final conclusion, the study's authors recommended that federal law should require e-cigs to operate as tobacco products do under the PACT (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) Act, which require age verification to process online sales.
"Implementing the use of age verification software is a reasonable, highly effective and cost-efficient way for the vapor products industry to prevent minors from making unauthorized purchases online," Phil Daman, president of the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association, told USA Today.