(WHDH) — Teen use of electronic cigarettes has reached “an epidemic proportion” and it appears that some California smoke shops aren’t helping the issue.
An undercover operation found that half of tobacco and vape shops failed to check identification for teens purchasing e-cigarettes and other nicotine products, according to research published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers sent 18- and 19-year-old “decoys” into stores without identified and instructed them to try to purchase vape products. A chaperone watched to see if the store carded them.
Almost half of tobacco and vape shops illegally sold nicotine-containing products to teens, according to the study.
Researchers found liquor stores, supermarkets and pharmacies were significantly more likely to check for identification.
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