Researchers from the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, Lake Success, have looked into age verification procedures and the potential for underage youth access to online marijuana dispensaries in the United States.
In the paper, “Access to Marijuana by Minors Via Online Dispensaries,” published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers performed a cross-sectional analysis of data collected from the websites of 80 online marijuana dispensaries in 32 states. The data included dispensary locations, shipment regions, product types, age restrictions and verification, delivery and pickup options, warnings and disclaimers, and payment methods.
Upon arriving at a dispensary website, 56 (70.0%) of the 80 websites analyzed prompted users to click yes to confirm they were of legal age. It is unclear how much of a deterrent this age verification prompt is in practice, though if youthful memory serves, it may operate more as a confirmation that the correct website has been found.
Three websites (3.8%) asked for a specific birthdate. As a side note, sharing personal identifying information with a website is never a good idea unless absolutely necessary, and