Coverage of latest tobacco study, NCMJ publication

A study directed by Dr. Joseph Lee and students from January to March 2022, focused on the sale of tobacco in Pitt County to underage buyers, led to a published report in the North Carolina Medical Journal and additional attention for its findings and conclusions.

Ryan Shaffer with Public Radio East detailed that 75.5% of retailers sold to an underage buyer at least once and gathered insight from Paulina Weglarczyk, one of the students (18 to 20 years old) who participated in the study by attempting to buy tobacco.

Dr. Joseph Lee is associate dean for research for the College of Health and Human Performance.

“A lot of times the cashiers would ask if I’m buying for a boyfriend or a brother,” Weglarczyk told Shaffer. “It was also interesting how many times I just got away with it and nobody asked.”

In December of 2019, the federal age of sale for tobacco products increased to age 21. Not all states have updated their tobacco age-of-sale policies to match the federal age of sale and there is inconsistent enforcement across federal and state agencies, which Lee told PRE could be confusing and a reason for low compliance rates, because, “We’re not really all on the same page, so it makes it not as effective, and it makes our ability to do education for retailers harder.”

Results from the study included that more than a third of retailers sold 50% or more of the time to underage buyers, and on average, retailers failed to request ID in 15.4% of purchase attempts. Research conclusions state North Carolina’s youth access law should match the federal age of sale, and changes to the law should allow research on underage sales that uses youth under age 18.

Lee is a professor in the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University and associate dean for research for the College of Health and Human Performance. The students used for this analysis and paper were all current or incoming ECU students.