You Shall Not Pass? The Design of Age Gates in an Emerging Cannabis Market

Michael J. Madson

doi:10.1177/00472816221104497

You Shall Not Pass? The Design of Age Gates in an Emerging Cannabis Market

Michael J. Madson

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Age gates are becoming common on the websites of cannabis dispensaries, following design practices in other controversial industries. Yet, age gates can typically be bypassed through trial and error or basic arithmetic, raising questions over best practices. This study therefore characterized the age gates of dispensaries licensed in the Arizona adult use cannabis program, using a “digital mystery shopper” approach to examine the age gates’ location, appearance, and performance. After presenting the results, I outline possible best practices and next steps for technical and professional communicators.

Original language	English (US)
Specialist publication	Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816221104497
State	Accepted/In press - 2022

Keywords

Arizona
age gate
cannabis
compliance
content analysis
controversial industries
design
marijuana
mystery shopping
public health

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Communication

Access to Document

10.1177/00472816221104497

Cite this

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You Shall Not Pass? The Design of Age Gates in an Emerging Cannabis Market

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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