Nicotine Sales to Minors: Store-Level Comparison of E-Cigarette Versus Cigarette Violation Rates.
In recent years, e-cigarettes overtook cigarettes as the leading tobacco product used by US adolescents. Most states, as well as federal regulations, have added e-cigarettes to laws prohibiting tobacco products sales to minors. We tested compliance with the newer regulation among Colorado urban retail businesses, speculating that violations might be more common for e-cigarettes than smokable cigarettes.



Supervised minors visited a random sample of urban businesses and sequentially attempted to purchase an e-cigarette product and cigarettes. The protocol prescribed that the same minor make both attempts in each business, separated by at least a day to minimize influence of the first result on the second result. Data were collected during May 2014-January 2015.



Among 238 businesses, more than one-fourth (26.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 18.9%-33.2%) sold at least one type of product, and 6.3% (CI, 1.8%-10.8%) sold both types. Violation rates were similar for e-cigarette products and cigarettes (17.6% vs. 14.7%, p = n.s.).



Enforcement to prevent retail tobacco sales to adolescents should include e-cigarette products. Dual testing of stores indicates that single visits underestimate the problem of underage tobacco sales.



Adolescents can buy e-cigarettes from retail stores as easily as they buy cigarettes. Enforcement of tobacco sales laws should include e-cigarettes, and test-retest protocols are needed to estimate the true extent of the problem.
Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora CO.|University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora CO.
Arnold H
AH
Levinson
D000293:Adolescent; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D003132:Commerce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033242:Minors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000072137:Vaping / Q000453:epidemiology*