CVS Pharmacy Quits Cigarettes, To Stop Selling Tobacco In All Its Stores

CVS Pharmacy has announced that it is kicking the habit and will stop selling cigarettes starting this year.

The billion dollar drug store chain is set to lose $2 billion a year in sales but is seeking to move more towards being a healthcare provider and doesn’t see any sense in a healthcare company being the setting for retail cigarettes and tobacco products.

The CVS company, seeking to grow as a future healthcare company, says, “It’s simply the right thing to do.”

President Obama praised the company in a statement saying it “sets a powerful example” what the chain is doing and will “help advance” his administrations efforts to reduce tobacco related deaths.

CVS has over 7,600 locations which will no longer sell cigarettes or any tobacco products.

The question now is, will the other major pharmacies, such as Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Wal-Mart and Kroger, follow suit.

CVS expects to be no longer stocking and selling cigarettes by October.