Study: Minors are buying e-cigs on TikTok

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — TikTok shops are evading local, state and federal laws, according to University of Arkansas researchers.

A news release on Friday, May 24, said that researchers in the College of Education and Health Professions looked through #discreetshipping, #puffbundle, and #hiddennic pages on TikTok where they analyzed 367 videos that had a combined 55.8 million views as of 2023.

“Fifty percent of the videos promoted certain brands in their hashtag, and 45% mentioned a cannabis product such as Cake Bars. Several described that they would bundle (28.6%) or hide (8.7%) the e-cigarette within other products to conceal it from being viewed when opened,” the release states. “This type of discreet shipping was intended to evade detection by the USPS service or parents/guardians who may intercept e-cigarettes purchased by youth.”

Page Dobbs, Eric D. Shisler and Charlotte McCormick published “ #Discreetshipping: Selling E-Cigarettes on TikTok ” in Nicotine and Tobacco Research .

The minimum purchasing age to be able to buy tobacco in Kansas is 21.

“Many states have laws that govern procedures necessary to sell e-cigarettes,” said lead researcher Dobbs. “For example, many U.S. states require a tobacco retail license to sell tobacco products, and in the U.S., e-cigarettes are considered tobacco products. The videos we found display people across the world who are selling e-cigarettes. For those sold in the U.S., this displays illegal sales happening on TikTok.”

Parents can observe their kid’s “For You” page where they can identify the content being shown to their kids, Dobbs said.

“…if your child receives a bundle of fake nails, eyelashes, lip gloss, or even something that seems out of the norm, such as house shoes, open the products and inspect it thoroughly. It may be inside a scrunchy that zips or in the foot of a pair of house shoes,” Dobbs said.

The researchers found that the content identified in the study violated policies put in place on tobacco marketing and sales. Researchers said that tobacco agencies need to work with platforms to identify illegal activity and violations.

“Restricting TikTok will not stop people from illegally selling e-cigarettes to youth,” Dobbs said.

Dobbs is an associate professor of public health in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation in the College of Education and Health Professions. Co-author Shisler is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Arkansas. Co-author McCormick is an undergraduate in the Honors College.

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