Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices that resemble cigarettes without the tobacco combustion of regular cigarettes. Although e-cigarettes are designed as an aid to stop smoking, governments have had difficulty asserting whether to classify them as tobacco-products or drugs. As a result, there is no federal law prohibiting access to minors, especially on the Internet, but some states have enacted legislation restricting sale to minors.

1. Skyler Reinhardt
Accuracy of Nicotine Concentration Labeling in Electronic Cigarettes Abstract
Purpose: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices that resemble cigarettes
without the tobacco combustion of regular cigarettes. Although e-cigarettes are designed as an aid
to stop smoking, governments have had difficulty asserting whether to classify them as tobacco-
products or drugs. As a result, there is no federallaw prohibiting access to minors, especially on
the Internet, but some states have enacted legislation restricting sale to minors.
Methods: A sample of 120 online e-cigarette retailers in the US was selected. We assessed the
availability of nicotine products to minors in terms of age requirements and enforcement.
Purchase attempts by a minor were used to assess the likelihood of selling to minors. Afterwards,
we researched state legislations that had been passed restricting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
Results: We found that 76 retailers (63%) allowed minors to purchase e-cigarettes by requiring a
date of birth to be entered,but 86 retailers (72%) did state in their Terms and Conditions that their
products were intended only for people above the legal smoking age. There was no correlation
between a minor’s ability to purchase and whether or not the website had advertisements with
teenagers smoking e-cigarettes.
Conclusion: More than 30 of the 50 states have enacted legislation prohibiting the purchase or
even possession of e-cigarettes by minors and while this may be enforced in stores, online
retailers merely give a warning, which is easily avoidable. Interventions such as federallaws are
needed to reduce the likelihood of online retailers selling e-cigarettes to minors.