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Minors Easily Buy E-Cigarettes Online, New Study Finds

Electronic Cigarette Smoker

Minors in the state of North Carolina attempting to purchase electronic cigarettes are likely to succeed when placing their orders over the Internet, as more than 90 percent of vendors do not comply with the 2013 state law which requires online e-cigarette sellers to verify the age of all of their customers at the point of order using a government database, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina who reported their findings on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Lead researcher Rebecca Williams with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was quoted by Reuters as having said that it was “likely easier” for teenagers to buy e-cigs online than it was for them to buy them from brick and mortar outlets where they may be confronted with a request to produce proper identification.

It is likely easier for many teens to buy e-cigarettes online than in a corner store, where they might be faced with a request for ID

While vendors shipping e-cigs to minors in the state of North Carolina can be charged with a class 2 misdemeanor if caught, health policy researcher Camille Gourdet with the University of Illinois insists most states “tend to focus on face-to-face sales” when it comes to the restrictions imposed on the sale of the products to minors.

Williams was quoted by TIME as having said that strict federal enforcement of regulations is necessary if the government is to ensure that online vendors are willing to invest the time and money required to enforce age restrictions on their customers when it takes away from their profits.

Without strictly enforced federal regulations, online e-cigarette vendors have little motivation to decrease profits by spending the time and money it takes to properly verify customers’ age and reject underage buyers

In other electronic cigarette news here on Immortal News, a recent study indicates e-cig vapor contains free radicals and damages the immune system of mice.

Are you surprised to find that this study’s authors have found that it’s as easy as they claim for minors to buy electronic cigarettes online?

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