Web sites selling cigarettes: how many are there in the USA and what are their sales practices?

Objectives-To estimate the number and geographic location of web sites selling cigarettes in the USA, and to examine their sales and marketing practices. Methods-Comprehensive searches were conducted using four keyword terms and five popular internet search engines, supplemented by sites identified in a news article. Over 1800 sites were examined to identify 88 internet cigarette vendors. Measures-Trained raters examined the content of each site using a standardised coding instrument to assess geographic location, presence of warnings, products sold, and promotional strategies. Setting-USA. Results-Internet cigarette vendors were located in 23 states. Nearly half (n = 43) were located in New York state, and many were in tobacco producing states with low cigarette excise taxes. Indian reservations housed 49 of the 88 sites. Only 28.4% of sites featured the US Surgeon General's health warnings and 81.8% featured minimum age of sale warnings. Nearly all sites (96.6%) sold premium or value brand cigarettes, 21.6% sold duty-free Marlboros, and 8.0% sold bidis. Approximately one third featured special promotional programmes. Conclusions-Internet cigarette vendors present new regulatory and enforcement challenges for tobacco control advocates because of the difficulty in regulating internet content and because many vendors are on Indian reservations.