Image by Ethan Parsa from Pixabay
Image by Ethan Parsa from Pixabay

Vape shops in the US sell to underage teens

Embargoed until: Publicly released:

Tobacco and vape shops in the US sell to underage users much more frequently than other types of tobacco retailers, according to a US study. Vaping is illegal for under-18s in the US and retailers are supposed to check the ID of anyone who looks under 27 years-old. The researchers sent in 1700 underage decoys to try and buy either cigarettes or vape products and found half were not asked for ID and 45 per cent were able to purchase what they'd asked for. The authors said retailers were much more likely to sell vaping products to minors than cigarettes, and recommended raising the legal buying age to 21.

Journal/conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1571

Organisation/s: California Department of Public Health, USA

Funder: Dr Henriksen reported receiving grants from the National Cancer Institute during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

Attachments:

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public

News for:

International

Media contact details for this story are only visible to registered journalists.