(Press-News.org) Online e-cigarette retailers are not consistently adhering to laws aimed at preventing the sale of vaping products to minors, including regulations on age verification, shipping methods and flavor restrictions, report researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
In a study published online on Nov. 11, 2024 in JAMA, researchers asked 16 people to purchase flavored vape products online and have them delivered to their homes in the County of San Diego, then analyzed the results of these attempted purchases. Of 156 attempted transactions 73% were processed and 67% were delivered.
As of March 21, 2024, sale restrictions on flavored tobacco have been enacted in eight U.S. states and 392 cities or counties, but some of these do not cover e-commerce. For example, the 2022 California Senate Bill (SB) 793 prohibited the sale of flavored tobacco products but left e-commerce restrictions ambiguous.
Due to the ambiguity in California law, the researchers aimed to test differences in compliance with local tobacco e-commerce ordinances. 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 were from other County of San Diego communities, which do not have the same restrictions. Delivery did not differ significantly between buyers in these two jurisdictions.
In addition to violations of flavor restrictions, the online purchases violated the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act, a federal law prohibiting the use of the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship vaping products and requires both age verification and scanning identifications upon delivery.
“There are longstanding surveillance systems in place that help implement laws at brick-and-mortar stores, but we do not have a system in place for online retailers,” said Eric Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. “The results of this study highlight the need for greater oversight and enforcement of online tobacco retailers.”
Key findings include:
1% of buyers had their IDs scanned
81% of deliveries were made via the USPS
9% arrived via couriers with policies restricting shipping tobacco, including: 4.0% via UPS, 3.0% via FedEx 3.0% and 1.8% via DHL
78% of buyers reported no interaction with delivery personnel
15% of buyers spoke with delivery personnel but did not have their IDs checked
6% of buyers had their IDs checked but not scanned
“Online sales of e-cigarettes are the largest and fastest growing sector of the tobacco. We need to evaluate tobacco retail policies and ensure they cover e-commerce and monitor the market to improve implementation,” said Leas, who is also director of the Tobacco E-commerce Lab.
In a 2023 study published in Tobacco Control, Leas reported that following the implementation of SB-793, online shopping queries were 194% higher than expected for cigarettes and 162% higher than expected for vape products.
As a result, to strengthen state tobacco oversight programs, including online sales of flavored tobacco products, California lawmakers recently approved SB-1230, citing Leas’ Tobacco Control study. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
“This research is piloting a system for monitoring online compliance that local health departments could mimic as a routine surveillance system to strengthen the implementation of public health laws designed to reduce the sale of tobacco products to minors,” said Leas.
Co-authors include: Raquel M. Harati, Shannon E. Ellis, Nora Satybaldiyeva, and Tomas Mejorado, all of UC San Diego; Gustavo Benitez, California State University San Marcos; and Lisa Henriksen, Stanford University.
This research was funded, in part, by the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (T32IP4684).
Disclosures: The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to report.
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.21597
END
Study: Online E-cigarette retailers fail to comply with sale regulations
2024-11-11
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in child population samples
2024-11-11
About The Study: In this study, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction, were prevalent among children with notable disparities across participant demographic characteristics and contexts. As principal antecedent threats to child and adolescent well-being that can affect later life prospects, ACEs represent a pressing global social issue. Effective early identification and prevention strategies, including targeted co-designed community interventions, can reduce the prevalence of ACEs and mitigate their severe effects, thereby minimizing the harmful health consequences of childhood adversity in future generations.
Corresponding ...
Asthma and memory function in children
2024-11-11
About The Study: In this cohort study, asthma was associated with memory difficulties in children, which may be more severe if asthma onset is earlier in childhood and may extend to executive function abilities.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Nicholas J. Christopher-Hayes, MA, email nchristopherhayes@ucdavis.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.42803)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of ...
Asthma may place children at risk of memory difficulties, new research finds
2024-11-11
Asthma is associated with memory difficulties in children, and early onset of asthma may exacerbate memory deficits, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The study, the first of its kind to connect asthma to memory deficits in children, was published in Nov. 5 in JAMA Network Open.
“This study underscores the importance of looking at asthma as a potential source of cognitive difficulty in children. We are becoming increasingly aware that chronic diseases, not only asthma but also diabetes, heart disease and others may place children at increased risk of cognitive difficulties,” said lead author Simona Ghetti, a professor of psychology ...
Age related health decline a predictor of future dementia risk
2024-11-11
An international study led by a University of Queensland researcher has found frailty increases a person’s risk of dementia, but early intervention may be the key to prevention.
Dr David Ward from the Centre for Health Services Research tracked the data of nearly 30,000 participants of 4 longitudinal studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, enabling researchers to detect changes in people’s health and function 20 years before they were diagnosed with dementia.
“The accumulation of age-related conditions is indicative of increasing frailty, which we found accelerates up to 9 years prior to a dementia diagnosis,” Dr Ward said.
“Our ...
First-in-human universal gene therapy for blood disorder
2024-11-11
Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is potentially life-threatening condition that can cause severe anemia and other abnormalities. It’s a rare genetic blood disorder that occurs when the bone marrow fails to make red blood cells. Currently the only cure is a stem cell transplant, but this is only a viable option for select patients. Otherwise, children with DBA require lifelong follow-up care to manage symptoms, such as steroids and blood transfusions.
New data publishing 11/11 in Cell Stem Cell provides strong support for the first-in-human universal gene therapy trial for DBA through regulated GATA1 expression. Notably, it’s ...
Study: Older adult prostate cancer patients are increasingly being overtreated
2024-11-11
Increasing percentages of some older U.S. men with intermediate-risk and high-risk prostate cancers are undergoing treatments that carry risks of side effects that can significantly reduce the quality of life without extending life, according to a new study led by Cedars-Sinai. This trend is problematic because these men may not have life expectancies that would allow them to receive the benefits of more aggressive treatments.
The research findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in the U.S., exceeded ...
Experiences of discrimination linked to postpartum weight retention
2024-11-11
PITTSBURGH, November 11, 2024 – Researchers have been unable to explain why after giving birth, Black patients are two to three times as likely to retain or gain additional weight compared to their white counterparts, even when pre-pregnancy weight and gestational-weight trajectories are comparable. A first-of-its-kind study by University of Pittsburgh epidemiologists points to the stress of lived experiences with racism and gender-based discrimination as a possible explanation. The study was reported today in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Since postpartum weight retention is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and other negative health outcomes that persist ...
New python package, ERTool, developed for efficient multi-source evidence fusion
2024-11-11
Researchers from Peking University have developed ERTool, an open-source Python package designed to simplify the implementation of the Evidential Reasoning (ER) approach for multi-source evidence fusion. This tool addresses the challenges of integrating data from multiple sources in uncertain decision-making environments. The results are published in Health Data Science.
Multi-source evidence fusion plays a critical role in fields such as healthcare management, business analytics, and environmental risk assessment. However, the traditional application of the ER approach has been complicated, requiring expertise in coding. To overcome these challenges, Associate Research Professor Guilan ...
AI-based software 'guide' childbirth by ‘seeing’ the baby’s position in real time
2024-11-11
A new AI-based software has been developed that can be integrated with an ultrasound device to ‘guide’ childbirth by providing precise, real-time information on the baby’s head position. It can clearly indicate to operators—using a traffic light system—whether to proceed with a natural descent in the birth canal, whether to use a vacuum extractor, or even if an emergency cesarean is needed.
This tool, which could be available in delivery rooms starting in 2028, was developed and validated as part of a ...
Arab scholars from around the globe convene in Qatar to advance science and research
2024-11-11
Doha, November 11, 2024 – The Arab Global Scholars (AGS) community gathered at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar Foundation’s Education City last week to herald the latest evolution of an initiative nurturing a contemporary renaissance of Arab science and research.
An initiative led by Qatar Foundation, AGS aims to reconnect scholars and intellectuals with roots in the Arab world back to their region to contribute to its positive development and long-term future.
Its beginnings going back almost two decades, AGS has solidified itself as an innovation-focused community linking 895 Arab scholars, as well as research ...