Characterizing New Tobacco Retailer Licensee Compliance to California’s Sales Ban: An Online Retail and Social Media Analysis
5 affiliations
- 1Global Health Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
- 2San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
- 3S-3 Research LLC, San Diego, California
- 4Global Health Policy & Data Institute, San Diego, California
- 5Department of Public Health, California State University, Fullerton, California
Abstract
Introduction
Tobacco 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
The 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
In 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
The 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.
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BibTeX
@article{aquino2026characterizing,
title = {{Characterizing New Tobacco Retailer Licensee Compliance to California’s Sales Ban: An Online Retail and Social Media Analysis}},
author = {Marianne B. Aquino and Matthew C. Nali and Tiana J. McMann and Zhuoran Li and Sydney Salazar and Meng Zhen Larsen and Daniel D. Yin and Joshua S. Yang and Tim K. Mackey},
journal = {AJPM focus},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1016/j.focus.2026.100538},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13753569},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Characterizing New Tobacco Retailer Licensee Compliance to California’s Sales Ban: An Online Retail and Social Media Analysis
AU - Marianne B. Aquino
AU - Matthew C. Nali
AU - Tiana J. McMann
AU - Zhuoran Li
AU - Sydney Salazar
AU - Meng Zhen Larsen
AU - Daniel D. Yin
AU - Joshua S. Yang
AU - Tim K. Mackey
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/29
JO - AJPM focus
DO - 10.1016/j.focus.2026.100538
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13753569
AB - Introduction Tobacco 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 The 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 In 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 The 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.
SN - 2773-0654
ER -