{ "abstract": "Introduction\n\nTobacco use remains a significant public health concern in California, with over 3.4 million residents reporting current use. In response to growing evidence of the public health risks and youth appeal associated with flavored tobacco products, California implemented Senate Bill 793 on January 1, 2023, prohibiting the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol flavor. This study aims to assess the availability of flavored tobacco products among newer licensed retailers in California after the implementation of Senate Bill 793 and to examine the extent of their digital presence through market surveillance of their websites and the use of social media platforms.Methods\n\nThe research was conducted in 3 phases: (1) obtaining a list of all licensed tobacco retailers from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and identifying licensed tobacco retailers that were licensed before policy enactment in September 2023 and after policy enactment in February 2025, (2) data mining and filtering through fuzzy address matching between California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and Google application programming interface to identify licensees as tobacco specialty storefronts, and (3) content analysis to characterize any promotion or sale of flavored tobacco products along with other marketing and access characteristics of interest.Results\n\nIn total, 132 newer licensed tobacco specialty shops with an online presence were analyzed. Of these, 59.85% (n=79) of retailers had an online electronic commerce website where products could be purchased, and of these, 63.29% (n=50) had no age verification upon entering the website. Across social media and/or online websites, nearly half of the licensed retailers sold flavored tobacco products (n=57, 43.18%). Furthermore, of the 50 with no age verification, 22.0% (n=11) offered flavored tobacco products. The breakdown of social media accounts identified with retailer websites included Instagram (n=30), Facebook (n=33), Twitter (n=14), YouTube (n=8), and others; Instagram was the most commonly used platform observed to be marketing the sale of flavored tobacco products. Common products observed on tobacco specialty store websites included flavored ENDS, electronic liquids, wraps, cigarettes, and cigars, among other products. Twelve websites also sold cannabis-related products alongside tobacco products, which included flavored cannabis products.Conclusions\n\nThe findings suggest that approximately one fourth of newer licensed specialty tobacco stores were noncompliant with Senate Bill 793, and over half of retailers with an online presence were currently selling flavored tobacco products, some with no age verification. Results from this online market surveillance study highlight the need for stronger monitoring and enforcement of tobacco retailers who enter the market after tobacco control policies are put in place to ensure proper implementation and restriction of illegal online sales.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Global Health Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California", "San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California", "S-3 Research LLC, San Diego, California", "Global Health Policy & Data Institute, San Diego, California", "Department of Public Health, California State University, Fullerton, California" ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 9, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Marianne B. Aquino" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Matthew C. Nali" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Tiana J. McMann" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Zhuoran Li" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Sydney Salazar" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Meng Zhen Larsen" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Daniel D. Yin" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Joshua S. Yang" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Tim K. Mackey" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2bh4rcnraq9zw.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1016/j.focus.2026.100538", "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13753569/?tool=EBI", "id": "2bh4rcnraq9zw", "issns": [ "2773-0654" ], "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13753569", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND", "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Research Article" ], [ "openalex", "2739|Smoking Behavior and Cessation" ] ], "openalex": "W7171707912", "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13753569/pdf/?tool=EBI", "pmcid": "PMC13753569", "pmid": "43017514", "published": "2026-07-29", "publisher": "Elsevier", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2bh4rcnraq9zw.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-11-12T15:23:59Z", "native_id": "PMC:PMC13753569", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13753569" }, { "first_seen": "2026-11-14T15:20:46Z", "native_id": "MED:43017514", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/43017514" }, { "first_seen": "2026-11-15T12:22:40Z", "native_id": "PMC13753569", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2026.100538" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "openalex:2739|Smoking Behavior and Cessation", "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health" } ], "title": "Characterizing New Tobacco Retailer Licensee Compliance to California’s Sales Ban: An Online Retail and Social Media Analysis", "title_text": "Characterizing New Tobacco Retailer Licensee Compliance to California’s Sales Ban: An Online Retail and Social Media Analysis", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-11-15T12:22:40Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2bh4rcnraq9zw", "venue": "AJPM focus", "versions": [] }