Rutgers researchers find nearly half of purchase attempts by people under 21 at tobacco retailers in the state resulted in a sale
Tobacco sales to underage consumers remains high despite federal legislation prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21, according to researchers at Rutgers Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, was conducted at stores throughout New Jersey from August 2019 to September 2022. Researchers randomly sampled licensed tobacco retailers in both high- and low-population density municipalities within a 25-mile radius of New Brunswick, N.J., and found that businesses sold to underage purchasers 49.5% of the time.
Raising New Jersey's tobacco age of sale to 21 was a significant milestone, but the results of our study suggest that effective implementation of the law continues to be challenging.
Mary Hrywna
Principal Investigator and Associate Professor at the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies and Rutgers School of Public Health
Buyers between the ages of 18 and 20 made 2,663 attempts at 70 different retailers to buy items such as cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Under New Jersey law, it is illegal for retailers to sell to persons under the age of 21 and under federal law, retailers must check the ID of anyone under the age of 30. The researchers noted whether an ID was checked during each purchase attempt and whether electronic identification scanning was used. Although not required by New Jersey or federal law, some retailers use electronic ID scanning, meaning they have scanning technology to verify age using automated software.
"We found that compliance with the law varied by store type and product type, meaning that ID checks or scans are not being done consistently across different stores and tobacco products," said Mary Hrywna, principal investigator of the National Cancer Institute grant that funded this research and an associate professor at the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies and the Rutgers School of Public Health.
About 60% of purchase attempts involved an ID check, and 15.3% of underage sales were still completed even after an ID check. Electronic ID scanning was implemented in 22.3% of purchase attempts, which resulted in a much lower rate of underage sales (3.2%).
In 2017, New Jersey became one of the first states to pass legislation raising the minimum age for purchasing commercial tobacco products from 19 to 21; in 2019, 21 became the minimum age nationwide.
"Raising New Jersey's tobacco age of sale to 21 was a significant milestone, but the results of our study suggest that effective implementation of the law continues to be challenging," Hrywna said.
Drug stores had the highest odds of checking IDs, while nonchain convenience stores had the lowest odds compared with chain convenience stores. Purchase attempts for nicotine pouches were less likely to result in an ID check compared to cigarettes.
Future research will focus on factors that contribute to underage sales.
"We hope to be able to identify modifiable factors that can help inform regulatory efforts, retailer education programs and overall compliance and enforcement to reduce and prevent tobacco use consistently among youth and young adults," said Amanda Kong, assistant professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, based in North Carolina, and an author of the study.
