Availability and Promotion of Cannabidiol (CBD) Products in Online Vape Shops

Abstract

Vaping products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis-derived compound used in wellness products and available in all 50 US states, were recently implicated in outbreaks of poisonings. Little is known about the commercial availability of CBD products in vape shops (i.e., stores that sell e-cigarettes). To document the availability and marketing of CBD products in online vape shops, in June 2020, we used the Google Chrome browser without cached data to collect the first two pages of search results generated by five Google queries (n = 100 search results) indicative of shopping for vaping products (e.g., “order vapes”). We then determined whether and what type of CBD products could be mail-ordered from the returned websites, and whether any explicit health claims were made about CBD. Over a third of the search results (n = 37; 37.0%) directed to vape shops that allowed visitors to also mail-order CBD. These shops sold 12 distinct categories of CBD products–some with direct analogs of tobacco or cannabis products including CBD cigarettes, edibles, flowers, pre-rolled joints, and vapes. Two vape shops made explicit health claims of the therapeutic benefits of CBD use, including in the treatment of anxiety, inflammation, pain, and stress. The abundance and placement of CBD in online vape shops suggests a growing demand and appeal for CBD products among e-cigarette users. Additional surveillance on the epidemiology of CBD use and its co-use with tobacco is warranted.

The Impact of Recent Tobacco Regulations and COVID-19 Restrictions and Implications for Future E-Cigarette Retail: Perspectives from Vape and Vape-and-Smoke Shop Merchants

“…Consistent with previous studies [ 34 , 42 , 43 ], merchants indicated that CBD and related paraphernalia is prominent within the vape retail setting, with 73.3% selling CBD vape products and 80.0% selling other CBD products. Moreover, participants reported that CBD would continue to be an important component of their product offerings, likely reflecting the rapid expansion of the CBD market (including products administered similarly to tobacco products, e.g., vaped or smoked) [ 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Roughly one-tenth of our sample reported selling vape products containing THC, and about one-sixth intended to sell delta-8-THC and/or kratom products in the future.…”

Cannabidiol use and perceptions in France: a national survey

“…Therapeutic use was frequently reported in a self-selected convenience sample of CBD users mainly from the US [ 16 ], and in a Swiss study [ 33 ]. Nevertheless, we cannot draw definitive conclusions about CBD’s impact on various health conditions—including anxiety, sleeping disorders and chronic pain [ 8 ]—which are often cited as reasons for its use [ 6 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 34 ], and which are often described as beneficial on internet sites, often for marketing purposes [ 35 , 36 ]. The frequency of CBD use did not differ between clusters (daily use between 10 and 28%).…”

Moving targets: how the rapidly changing tobacco and nicotine landscape creates advertising and promotion policy challenges

“…Vitamin ENNDS were promoted as a smoking cessation aid in Korea in 2016123 and were described on the US market in 2018 34. CBD products were commonly found in US online vape shops in 2021 124…”