The state's Attorney General's office said Dirt Cheap Cigarettes, Inc. of Missouri; smokin 4 less and LLP Enterprises/CigOutlet of Virginia; Cyco.net Inc. of New Mexico and eSmokes of Florida were caught in sting operations in which investigators allowed minors to use their parents' credit cards to get cigarettes.
The civil lawsuits, filed in San Diego Superior Court, ask a judge to penalize the e-tailers a total of $1 million and to prohibit them from selling cigarettes to customers under 18.
"They have to do more than just ask whether the buyer is over 18," Attorney General's Office spokesman Tom Dresslar said. "There are all sorts of steps they could take to make sure minors aren't buying cigarettes."
The states of Washington and Oregon filed similar lawsuits on Tuesday, and were expected to be joined by a number of other states in the coming days, Dresslar said.
The lawsuit accuses the companies of purposely undermining the state's efforts to reduce smoking by minors by refusing to verify customers' ages or require a signature upon delivery.
About 2,000 minors begin smoking every day in California alone, the lawsuit said, and 80 percent of those early smokers develop regular habits, the lawsuit said.
One-third of smokers who pick up cigarettes as minors will die of a tobacco-related disease, the lawsuit said.
The legal action also attempts to collect a portion of the estimated $53.9 million allegedly owed California by out-of-state tobacco vendors who fail to pay excise tax on their sales to Californians.
Officials at Dirt Cheap Cigerettes, which calls itself "The Last Refuge of the Persecuted Smoker," could not be reached immediately for comment, but its Web site cautions buyers to "please be 18+ to shop with us, we care about the law."
On its Web site, eSmokes.com says it requires proof that buyers are at least 21 and possess a valid drivers license and credit card to purchase cigarette products, and advises that buyers are responsible for complying with local laws regarding out-of-state cigarette purchases. |
