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  • Electronic verification of identification cards for JUUL product purchase attempts after final consent judgement in North Carolina versus JUUL Labs, Inc.: evidence from Pitt County, North Carolina, 2022

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Electronic verification of identification cards for JUUL product purchase attempts after final consent judgement in North Carolina versus JUUL Labs, Inc.: evidence from Pitt County, North Carolina, 2022
  1. Elisabeth C Reed1,
  2. Joseph G L Lee1,
  3. Mary Hrywna2,3,
  4. Amanda Y Kong4,
  5. Christopher Ackerman2,
  6. Cristine D Delnevo2,3
  1. 1Department of Health Education and Promotion, College of Health and Human Performance, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
  2. 2Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  3. 3Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
  4. 4Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Joseph G L Lee, Department of Health Education & Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA; leejose14{at}ecu.edu

https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2024-058811

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    In response to rising youth electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevalence, the USA raised the legal minimum age of sale to 21 years and required requesting identification (ID) for all buyers under age 27 years. However, state laws may not match federal laws; North Carolina (NC) only enforces the state minimum age of sale of 18 years. In 2019, NC sued JUUL Labs (‘JUUL’) for selling and marketing products to youth, misrepresenting product potency and failing to warn of the dangers of nicotine.1 In response to concerns about popularity among the youth, JUUL employees and a consultant conducted efficacy testing of an ID electronic verification (e-verification) programme for in-person transactions called Retail Access Control Standards (RACS). A JUUL-sponsored special issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior found non-compliance fell considerably among age 21+ years buyers without an ID following RACS implementation at 171 chain retail locations in three states—including NC.2 In 2021, …

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    Footnotes

    • X @AmandaYKong

    • Presented at An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 21 March 2024.

    • Contributors JGLL, MH, AYK, CA and CDD contributed to study design. JGLL implemented the study in Pitt County. JGLL and ECR analysed and interpreted data. JGLL and ECR wrote the letter with input from the study team. All authors approved the submission of the letter.

    • Funding This study was funded by National Cancer Institute (P30CA225520, R01CA231139) and Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (STCST00400_FY24)

    • Disclaimer The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

    • Competing interests AYK serves as a paid expert consultant in litigation against the tobacco industry. JGLL holds a royalty interest in tobacco retailer mapping system owned and licensed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The software was not used in this research. All other authors report no competing interests.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.