Temu Revealed: The E-Commerce Giant’s Controversial Sales of Smoking and Drug Paraphernalia
Trending e-commerce site Temu seems to be everywhere, from the Super Bowl to social media, offering tempting deals on clothes, toys, gadgets, and … tobacco products?
Temu has become a household name since its debut in September 2022, with consumers drawn in by its impossibly low prices and robust rewards and referral systems. The app now boasts more than 100 million users in the United States. But its success has come with controversy. Critics have raised concerns about the company’s labor practices, its privacy policies, and the environmental impact of fast fashion.
Still, Temu engages in one dangerous practice that hasn’t garnered much attention. Alongside clothing and home décor, the site is filled with smoking and drug paraphernalia, sold to any customer, regardless of age.
Temu’s tobacco- and drug-related offerings are vast. Enter a search term like “vape” or browse the “Tobacco-related Products & Lighters” section to find countless hookah pipes, flavored rolling papers, smoking accessories, and much more. These products clearly qualify as drug paraphernalia, which is defined in the Code of Virginia as:
“designed for use or intended by such person for use to illegally […] inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body marijuana or a controlled substance.”
The sale of drug paraphernalia is illegal under both federal and Virginia state laws, and selling such items to minors can bump charges up from a misdemeanor to a felony in Virginia.
Temu’s terms of use put the responsibility solely on consumers to keep mature items out of children’s hands:
“To use the Services, you represent that you are at least eighteen (18) years old and of legal age to form a binding contract… Certain Products may be intended for individuals of certain ages or ‘mature audiences’ only. By ordering such Products, you certify that you are old enough to view, use, own, or receive them.”
The site requires customers to make an account, but all that is needed is an email address. At no point in the purchasing process does Temu ask to verify a shopper’s age.
And even Temu’s policy of only selling to individuals over 18 is insufficient with regard to smoking and drug paraphernalia.
Both state and federal law set the smoking age at 21, and the Code of Virginia prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing or possessing tobacco products, including paraphernalia like rolling papers.
Not only is Temu willing to sell smoking- and drug-related products without age verification, but many of its offerings are likely to appeal directly to kids. Some of the items feature colorful designs and fruity flavors, looking more like toys than smoking and drug paraphernalia. These products are sold at very low prices and included in promotions – even a back-to-school sale last fall.
Flavors and colorful branding are two of the most surefire ways to attract kids’ attention, and in fact, it’s straight out of the tobacco industry’s playbook to make their products more attractive to youth. That is why the practice was banned by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement:
“Prohibiting tobacco companies from taking any action to target youth in the advertising, promotion or marketing of tobacco products.”
The reality is, Temu is not the first or only e-commerce site to use legal loopholes to sell drug and tobacco products without age verification. Online marketplaces can pop up and be taken down rapidly, using the flexibility and anonymity of the internet to sell banned or unauthorized products – making it all too easy for youth to get ahold of these dangerous products.
This blog was originally published on August 19, 2023 and last updated on April 4, 2024.
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