Chatsworth Vaping Websites Agree to Customer Age Checks

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office said Thursday that two electronic cigarette companies in the San Fernando Valley have agreed to keep minors from buying products at their websites. City Attorney Mike Feuer filed suit last month seeking injunctions against NEwhere Inc., and its subsidiary VapeCo Distribution LCC, both in Chatsworth, alleging the companies sold vaping products online without proper age verification, sold tobacco products without federal approval and marketed their products to minors. “I’m pleased that just days after we filed our lawsuits, the defendants in one case agreed to age verifications requirements (pending trial) that will help prevent kids from purchasing tobacco products on their website,” Feuer said in a statement. The lawsuits allege that the companies use social media to glamorize youth vaping through the use of young models, sexualized content and cartoon characters. The city attorney’s office was able to purchase various e-cigarette products from the defendants’ websites while posing as teen customers using fake email accounts and a prepaid gift card. “We’ll continue to aggressively litigate these cases, seeking, among other things, permanent injunctions requiring compliance with California’s age verification laws and prohibiting defendants from targeting youth in their marketing, along with appropriate statutory penalties,” Feuer added in his statement.