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Effectiveness of State and Federal Government Agreements with Major Credit Card and Shipping Companies to Block Illegal Internet Cigarette Sales

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  • Kurt M Ribisl
  • Rebecca S Williams
  • Ziya Gizlice
  • Amy H Herring

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether these bans increased the rate of Internet Cigarette Vendors (ICVs) ceasing online sales, decreased the proportion of vendors offering banned payment and shipping options, and decreased consumer traffic to the most popular ICVs. Design: Websites in a longitudinal study of ICVs were visited in 2003 (n = 338), 2004 (n = 775), 2005 (n = 664), 2006 (n = 762), and 2007 (n = 497) to assess whether they were in business and monitor their advertised sales practices. The number of unique monthly visitors to the 50 most popular ICVs at baseline was examined for the period one year before and two years after the bans to determine whether the bans altered traffic. Results: Following the bans, the rate of ICVs ceasing online sales year to year increased, but due to an influx of new vendors, there was a net increase in ICVs. The proportion of vendors accepting banned payment options dropped from 99.2% to 37.4% after the bans, and the proportion offering banned shipping options dropped from 32.2% to 5.6%, but there was a corresponding increase in vendors offering non-banned payment options (e.g., personal checks) and shipping options (e.g., US Postal Service). Following the bans, there was a 3.5 fold decline in traffic to the most popular ICV websites. Conclusions: This promising approach to controlling the sale of restricted goods online has implications for regulating other products such as alcohol, firearms, quack cures, and medicines sold without a prescription.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt M Ribisl & Rebecca S Williams & Ziya Gizlice & Amy H Herring, 2011. "Effectiveness of State and Federal Government Agreements with Major Credit Card and Shipping Companies to Block Illegal Internet Cigarette Sales," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(2), pages 1-6, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0016754
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016754
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Austan Goolsbee & Michael F. Lovenheim & Joel Slemrod, 2010. "Playing with Fire: Cigarettes, Taxes, and Competition from the Internet," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 131-154, February.
    2. Hyland, A. & Higbee, C. & Li, Q. & Bauer, J.E. & Giovino, G.A. & Alford, T. & Cummings, K.M., 2005. "Access to low-taxed cigarettes deters smoking cessation attempts," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(6), pages 994-995.
    3. New York State Department of Health & (Kevin Davis) & (Matthew Farrelly) & (Qiang Li) & (Andrew Hyland), 2006. "Cigarette Purchasing Patterns among New York Smokers: Implications for Health, Price, and Revenue," University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education qt8026w9n0, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco.
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    1. Bryden, Anna & Petticrew, Mark & Mays, Nicholas & Eastmure, Elizabeth & Knai, Cecile, 2013. "Voluntary agreements between government and business—A scoping review of the literature with specific reference to the Public Health Responsibility Deal," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 186-197.

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