Absence of age verification for delivery of online purchases of CBD and Delta-8: implications for youth access to CBD and Delta-8 Products

Abstract

While marijuana is currently illegal in the United States (US) at the federal level and is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the 2018 Farm Bill exempted some products containing cannabinoids from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s controlled substance list. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, products containing <0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, such as cannabidiol (CBD) and Delta-8 THC, would not be considered Schedule I controlled substances. Dependent on state law, individuals must be either 18+ or 21+ to purchase CBD and 21+ to purchase Delta-8. The proliferation of online CBD/Delta-8 shops and the shipment of these products from brick-and-mortar locations may contribute to youth access and use of these products in the absence of age verification checks. As part of a pilot study, we aimed to purchase a variety of CBD and Delta-8 product types (e.g., edible, flower, vape, etc.) from CBD shops located in 18 unique states throughout the US. We identified 18 states based on those that permitted the sale of CBD and Delta-8 products and represented all four Census regions of the US (i.e., West, Northeast, Midwest, and South). We searched for the top-rated CBD shops in the largest city in the selected state using Yelp. We selected the highest rated CBD/Delta-8 product available of the identified product type. If we were not able to purchase the product at the shop, we would search the next shop that was in the Yelp review. All products were ordered by someone over 21 years of age and were shipped to a residential address. We documented ability to purchase the product online, online age verification, and whether or not identification or a signature was required at the time of delivery. We had to visit different 26 CBD store websites to reach our goal of purchasing 20 CBD and Delta-8 products from 20 unique states across all four Census regions of the US. Of the websites we visited to purchase CBD products, 37.5% required the customer to verify their age prior to viewing products, and 70.0% of the websites we visited to purchase Delta-8 products required age verification. There were 6 shops that we were unable to purchase a product from. In most cases, this was due to a lack of shipping options, and one store required that the credit card used matched a valid ID which was not possible given our use of an university credit card. At the time of delivery, none of the products required an age identification check or contact with the customer. All deliveries were either left in the mailbox or on the porch. The findings of our pilot study suggest that youth can obtain CBD and Delta-8 products from online sources without age verification. Efforts are needed to increase the utilization of age verification at the point of delivery by stores that ship CBD and Delta-8 products.