What effects does the Internet have on the tobacco industry and cigarette sales and on teen smoking?
The Internet circumvents four areas of government control over the sale and distribution of tobacco: (1) restricting sales to minors; (2) raising taxes to dissuade use and apply additional revenue to the healthcare costs of continued use; (3) restriction of advertising, marketing, and promotion; and (4), fostering public disapproval of the tobacco industry and its products.
The Internet has become a major player in reversing all four areas both in the United States and around the world. Recently, cigarette sales have increased because people of all ages have easy access to cheaper tobacco products via the Internet.
A quick Google search finds close to 700,000 cigarette Web sites that offer tax-free cigarettes to anyone, regardless of age, with access to a computer and electronic payment. Internet sales to minors have increased because of the ability of teenagers to buy cheap cigarettes from Web sites without federal or state oversight.
A recent survey found that students under 18 were able to buy cigarettes (including Marlboro Lights and Bidis) by the carton online without either being asked their age or requiring proof of their age. Many Internet Web sites that sell different types of tobacco products do not list age restrictions, and few of them have the Surgeon General’s of USA warning labels.
Only one Web site used 21 years as the required age to buy cigarettes. Verification of age is by self-report (http://www.cigarettes-below-cost.com). A study commissioned by Hot Wired, the online version of Hot Wired magazine, found that 37% of Americans who buy cigarettes online are younger than 18 years of age. Only a few sites use a more rigorous approach such as verifying the buyer’s age by a driver’s license number or a photo ID.
Internet sales to minors have increased because of the ability of teenagers to buy cheap cigarettes from Web sites without federal or state oversight
