CVS Pharmacies to stop selling tobacco

[2cheap]

CVS Pharmacies have announced that they will cease selling tobacco products by October of this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/bu...y-october.html

As with any private enterprise, CVS has (should have) the right to pick and choose what products it sells.

However, IMO the argument that it is not right to sell tobacco over health concerns because it does not meet with the image of helping people stay healthy falls short if they still carry sweets and fatty snacks.

Your thoughts?

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by 2cheap

CVS Pharmacies have announced that they will cease selling tobacco products by October of this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/bu...y-october.html

As with any private enterprise, CVS has (should have) the right to pick and choose what products it sells.

However, IMO the argument that it is not right to sell tobacco over health concerns because it does not meet with the image of helping people stay healthy falls short if they still carry sweets and fatty snacks.

Your thoughts?

I am sure this is a commercial decision but less sure what the commercial reasons for it might be.

[tomesing]

tomesing

[2cheap]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I am sure this is a commercial decision but less sure what the commercial reasons for it might be.

They project that they will lose $billions in sales.
I don't know how they plan on making that up, even if people flock to them in support of their decision.

[TommySwiftJr.]

This whole anti-smoking thing has reached a critical point. I consider it being a mix between sick compulsiveness and hysteria. I never smoked in a restaurant when someone at the table next to me was enjoying his meal. (And I didn't need rules for that!) Now that I have even to leave the pub (!) to enjoy my cigarette you should think it's all good. But it is NOT! How comes that adults are treated like a bunch of toddlers these days? And who are those who think to tell me what I have to do? Sorry? What's my motivation to follow their standards? Awkward world we live in.

[brk549]

I don't smoke cigarettes but smoke a pipe here at home.Only smoked part of one cig in my life.It's descrimination to make any one go outside in the cold and weather to smoke when it's legal to smoke.If it's that harmful and they can prove it is then outlaw it.Not very many people smoke any more and you can tell it because the one's that smoke are standing outside smoking,like a dog that's been caught crapping on the carpet.Seems like everyone you know sooner or later ends up with some form of cancer but we where told at the time if they stopped people smoking cancer rates would drop dramatically.Just another lie fed to us by leaders that are led by a dollar bill.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by brk549

I don't smoke cigarettes but smoke a pipe here at home.Only smoked part of one cig in my life.It's descrimination to make any one go outside in the cold and weather to smoke when it's legal to smoke.If it's that harmful and they can prove it is then outlaw it.Not very many people smoke any more and you can tell it because the one's that smoke are standing outside smoking,like a dog that's been caught crapping on the carpet.Seems like everyone you know sooner or later ends up with some form of cancer but we where told at the time if they stopped people smoking cancer rates would drop dramatically.Just another lie fed to us by leaders that are led by a dollar bill.

Actually if it was about money they would be encouraging us to smoke like chimneys. The financial influence of the tobacco industry enabled it to resist the acknowledgement of the causal link between smoking and lung cancer for a very long time. Secondary smoking is also a proven risk factor. I certainly support the smoking ban in public places.

Where I think government oversteps the mark is in presuming to so much as have an opinion on whether or not we may smoke inside our homes or inside our cars. What we do privately in those private spaces, as long as it does not affect our fellow citizens, is our own business and no one else is even entitled to have an opinion, let alone express an opinion or offer to legislate.

[yellowbandit]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I am sure this is a commercial decision but less sure what the commercial reasons for it might be.

Certain insurance companies, including Medicare, would not allow their customers to buy drugs from a place that sells tobacco. CVS looked at the decreasing market in Tobacco (down 30% between 2001 and 2010), with small margins, vs. the growing pharmaceutical market, with high margins and realized what the long term outlook was.

Heck they even opened up medical clinics in their stores in order to drive pharmaceutical sales. It was weird that they couldn't fill prescriptions written in their own store!

Insurance companies, more than the government, have driven tobacco out because of how much it affects their bottom line.

[brk549]

The democrat party went after the tobacco companies after Regan was elected the first time because they were yelling for months after the election tobacco money had put him in and they were going to change that and they did.The money tobacco brings to the federal and states is the reason they will never pass laws against it.People having lung cancer without ever smoking a cigerette was explained by second hand smoke.They've got so ridiculous with second hand smoke there's a lot of places you can't even smoke outside.I fully agree that smoking anything can't be good for you so why would you be so hard against tobacco and pushing so hard to legalize marijuana.Even though alcohol tobacco grass or any of it's bad for you they want the revenue it brings so they'll have a bigger pile of money to roll in because the bigger the pile the more of it sticks to them when they get up.Anyone that thinks any of this is being done because their so concerned about us is just foolish.It's all about money and them getting their hands on more of it.

[garthok newo]

Full disclosure: I am smoker, and I'll stop smoking when they lift up the oxygen tent and pry my cigarette from my cold dead nicotine stained fist.

For many retailers cigs are a low margin business they use to bring in customers who just might buy an item with a higher profit margin.
Also, gets them in the habit of going to the same location ie: repeat business.

We smokers brought on a lot of the backlash upon ourselves. Blowing smoke in other's faces, smoking at diner, standing in line at an event, using the world as our personal ashtray (butts covering the ground at every stop sign, at every beach, outside entryways to public buildings).
For this I apologize.

But don't keep reminding me of the evils of smoking. I'm of legal age(and then some) I've heard it all many, many, many times. As someone once said "I don't tell people to quit, they stop eventually. '