Online Marijuana Shops lack proper age verification system for minors
As both medical and adult-use marijuana are legal in more than 30 U.S. states, ensuring that children are prevented from purchasing is one of the core values of most state marijuana legislations. However, several marijuana shops still lack proper age verification systems that prevent them from buying such products.
This is what researchers from Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York have found and published in a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics earlier this week.
Approved by the Northwell Health Institutional Review Board, this cross-sectional study used Google search queries, including "buy marijuana online" and "order weed online," from July 2022 to June 2023, to identify online marijuana dispensaries that sold to U.S. consumers.
Researchers have identified 80 online marijuana dispensaries across 32 states. Among these, 22 dispensaries (27.5%) offered delivery services for marijuana products to customers in different states. Notably, 21 of these dispensaries (95%) deliver to states with marijuana laws that differ from their own home state's regulations.
Upon entering the websites, 56 (70%) required users to click "yes" to confirm they were of legal age, while 3 (3.8%) requested a specific birthdate.
None of them requested verified age documentation for access. In general, 53 dispensaries (66.3%) insisted on age verification when making a purchase or upon receiving a marijuana product, while 15 (18.8%) didn't require formal age verification during the purchase process.
Age verification methods included government-issued identification (40 dispensaries, or 50%), a medical marijuana identification number (21 dispensaries, or 26.3%), and self-reported birthdate when purchasing or using marijuana products.
Fifty-four dispensaries (67.5%) outlined policies concerning the sale of marijuana to minors. Among these, 13 (24%) didn't require users to verify their age to access the website, and 13 (24%) didn't request age verification before purchase or product receipt.
Untraceable payment methods, such as cash, prepaid cards, and cryptocurrency, were accepted by 67 dispensaries (83.8%). Fifteen dispensaries (18.8%) offered first-time buyer discounts, 4 (5%) provided student discounts, and 2 (2.5%) gave discounts for using cryptocurrency.
The authors of this study emphasized that certain products, such as e-cigarettes and edibles, feature colorful packaging that may be appealing to minors.
The majority of online marijuana dispensaries lacked sufficient age verification features, and a significant number of them accepted untraceable payment methods, which may allow young individuals to hide their transactions, according to this study.
Researchers emphasized that nearly one out of every five online dispensaries didn't request formal age verification at any point during the purchasing process. However, they also highlighted the limitation of this study as it included a small sample size and had a relatively short period of data collection. Furthermore, researchers used restricted search terms and may not have been aware of how to discover additional online dispensaries.
Despite regulations, the availability of marijuana products continues to appear widespread, with the potential for shipments across state lines exacerbating the situation, according to the authors of this study.
"It is imperative," the study reads, "to require strict age verification procedures prior to cannabis purchases online and to establish stringent surveillance of online marijuana dispensaries to protect youth."
"Pediatricians and caregivers must be aware of the widespread availability of online dispensaries and potential dissemination of marijuana to minors," the study concludes.
Previous research has underscored the doubling of cannabis vaping usage among underage marijuana users in the last seven years. This trend is complemented by the preference of teenagers for cannabis products over cigarettes and tobacco. A recent study further confirms this preference, indicating that high school teens prefer smoking weed with nicotine-free blunt wraps instead of those containing nicotine.
However, the lack of age verification management could potentially have repercussions that extend far beyond isolated cases of minors purchasing marijuana or occasional dispensary closures. This could also lead to create issues for the progress of future legalization efforts.
