Blockchain-Based Traceability and Age Verification for Nicotine Products

Abstract

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Underage access to nicotine products and the circulation of counterfeit tobacco remain significant public health and regulatory challenges, largely driven by limited supply-chain visibility, centralized record manipulation, and weak enforcement of age-restriction policies. Many existing digital monitoring systems lack immutability and fail to integrate regulatory controls directly into transaction execution. This study proposes a blockchain-based traceability and age-verification framework for nicotine products that ensures end-to-end transparency while enforcing compliance through smart contracts. The system employs a permissioned blockchain to generate immutable records of product movement from manufacturing to retail and embeds age-verification logic linked to national identity credentials within transaction authorization. A mobile application interfaces with the blockchain to enable real-time product authentication and compliance verification at the point of sale. The framework was evaluated using simulated retail and regulatory inspection scenarios, focusing on traceability completeness, enforcement accuracy, transaction latency, and throughput. Experimental results demonstrate effective prevention of underage purchase attempts, tamper-resistant provenance tracking, and consistently low transaction latency suitable for real-time retail operations. Overall, the findings indicate that smart-contract-enforced blockchain traceability provides a practical and reliable approach for strengthening regulatory compliance, combating counterfeit nicotine products, and protecting public health..