# CVS dumps cigarettes, keeps homeopathic remedies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 25, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482 "2014-09-25T00:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/41 "2014-09-25T19:54:51Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Soda pop and potato chips probably cause more harm than homeopathic medicine too, but I bet you CVS is not racing forward with plans to take them off the shelves. šŸ™‚ Point taken, but those almost never hurt anyone other than the one who ingests them. The point is that ciggies kill 50000 NON-smokers a year. Even drunk driving only kills about 11000 a year of which about 2-3000 are innocent victims. Handguns murder about 5-6000. Smoking kills TEN TIMES more innocents every year than handguns do. Now smokers kill themselves @ about 480,000, and gun-owners kill\* themselves\* about 20K per year. (Guns are a major source of suicide, but I am not going to count this as a ā€œmurder of a innocent victimā€) Guns are protected by the 2nd Ad. Tobacco is protected by a large-well funded industry. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/42 "2014-09-25T19:56:07Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > So then the more valid argument would be to say that CVS is hypocritical for banning cigarettes, but not junk food. Junk food kills only those who choose to eat it. I am not happy about that choice, but itā€™s theirs to make. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/43 "2014-09-25T20:09:30Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > So then the more valid argument would be to say that CVS is hypocritical for banning cigarettes, but not junk food. Oh. I dunno. Maybe they have some kind of ā€œharm scaleā€ and ban things that are above some threshhold. Iā€™m delighted they donā€™t sell guns. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/44 "2014-09-25T20:16:50Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I was looking for something to help me get to sleep recently, and the first thing woman behind the counter at the pharmacy was a homeopathic remedy. **I had to restrain my temper** , Pussy. If youā€™re not going to stand up and fight ignorance then you donā€™t deserve to be on this message board. Pussy. > [@DrDeth](#): > > The point is that ciggies kill 50000 NON-smokers a year. This is a blatant lie. You need to stop spreading lies. This message board is for fighting ignorance and if youā€™re going to go around spreading lies then you donā€™t deserve to be on this message board either. [http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data\_statistics/fact\_sheets/fast\_facts/](http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/) > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Oh. I dunno. Maybe they have some kind of ā€œharm scaleā€ and ban things that are above some threshhold. Iā€™m delighted they donā€™t sell guns. Nah, this is just some PR bullshit to try to boost sales by fooling rubes into shopping there because ā€œCVS Caresā€. Here in California CVS sells all kinds of hard booze. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/45 "2014-09-25T20:30:35Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > P > > This is a blatant lie. You need to stop spreading lies. This message board is for fighting ignorance and if youā€™re going to go around spreading lies then you donā€™t deserve to be on this message board either. > > [http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data\_statistics/fact\_sheets/fast\_facts/](http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/) Sure: ā€œCigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including an estimated 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure.ā€ is ā€œonlyā€ 41000 deaths per year- in the USA. > **[Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke](https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects/secondhand-smoke)** > > Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard causing more than 41,000 deaths per year. It can cause or make worse a wide range of damaging health effects in children and adults, including lung cancer, Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard causing close to 50,000 deaths per year. (again USA). > **[Air pollution](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/theme-details/GHO/air-pollution)** > > Ā  From smog hanging over cities to smoke inside the home, air pollution poses a major threat to health across the globe.Ā  Almost all of the global population (99%) are exposed to air pollution levels that put them at increased risk for... _ā€œGlobally, more than a third of all people are regularly exposed to the harmful effects of smoke. This exposure is responsible for about 600,000 deaths per year,ā€¦ā€_ So, whereā€™s the lie? In that I choose American Lung soc estimates over CDC or that I only listed USA deaths? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/46 "2014-09-25T20:36:41Z")
I was about to start a pit thread on this crap, especially from companies that market themselves as neo-healthy, e.g. Whole Foods, Super Supplements, PCC, etc. I recently saw this item at Super Supplements when picking up some coconut oil. It was quite nearly rage-inducing. Yes, this is real and on the shelf. [You know, for kids!](http://www.supersup.com/hylands-kids-kit-homeopathic-medicine-every-parent-needs-1-kit-7-single-remedies-354973982949) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/47 "2014-09-25T22:27:16Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I recently saw this item at Super Supplements when picking up some coconut oil. It was quite nearly rage-inducing. Yes, this is real and on the shelf. > > [You know, for kids!](http://www.supersup.com/hylands-kids-kit-homeopathic-medicine-every-parent-needs-1-kit-7-single-remedies-354973982949) Iā€™m a little confused. The linked product information warns pregnant or nursing women to consult a health care professional before taking it. Yet itā€™s supposed to be a homeopathic product for children. Also, itā€™s advertised as a 30X dilution of several things. [Itā€™s been calculated](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-09/plausibility-test-homeopathic-medicine) that with a 30X dilution (fairly common in homeopathy; many such ā€œdrugsā€ are diluted even further) the odds of there being one molecule of ā€œactiveā€ substance in a dose are on the order of 1 in 100,000,000. So the good news is: very little chance of a significant side effect (not zero, since even placebos can uncommonly produce serious reactions). The bad news is itā€™s a total waste of money and could place children in danger if their parents try it in lieu of proper medical care. Useless remedies that could endanger customers donā€™t belong on drugstore or supermarket shelves. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/48 "2014-09-25T23:29:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Iā€™m a little confused. > > The linked product information warns pregnant or nursing women to consult a health care professional before taking it. Yet itā€™s supposed to be a homeopathic product for children. > Also, itā€™s advertised as a 30X dilution of several things. [Itā€™s been calculated](http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-09/plausibility-test-homeopathic-medicine) that with a 30X dilution (fairly common in homeopathy; many such ā€œdrugsā€ are diluted even further) the odds of there being one molecule of ā€œactiveā€ substance in a dose are on the order of 1 in 100,000,000. > > So the good news is: very little chance of a significant side effect (not zero, since even placebos can uncommonly produce serious reactions). The bad news is itā€™s a total waste of money and could place children in danger if their parents try it in lieu of proper medical care. > > Useless remedies that could endanger customers donā€™t belong on drugstore or supermarket shelves. Now Iā€™m confused. It says on the product to consult a health care professional. So that leaves out the danger of not getting proper medical care first if theyā€™re following the advice on the product. That only leaves the placebo effect which could be positive. If some people want to pay for something that could have a placebo effect, that could be worth it to them. Whenever I see reviews for homeopathic remedies, a lot of people reviewing it leave open the possibility that the effect is placebo, but thatā€™s worth it to them. Thereā€™s also no shortage of people claiming the products are frauds in product reviews in sites like Amazon, so itā€™s not like everyone is taken completely unaware. If thereā€™s a negative placebo effect, anything or nothing could equally cause that. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/49 "2014-09-26T01:09:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Iā€™m a little confused. > > The linked product information warns pregnant or nursing women to consult a health care professional before taking it. Yet itā€™s supposed to be a homeopathic product for children. It also says to use it only for self-limiting conditions. You need to see a doctor to make sure what you have is self-limiting, and not something that wonā€™t go away by itself anyway. :rolleyes: In other words, if itā€™s something that will go away whether you take the homeopathic product or not, it perfect for homeopathic treatment. If it needs something to make it go away, or it wonā€™t go away, youā€™d better get something like, yā€™know, penicillin. Putting these products in a pharmacy gives them an aura of respectability. Iā€™m sure there are people who have heard vaguely that homeopathic remedies are water, but them encounter them in the pharmacy, and think ā€œOh, maybe what I heard [read] was mistaken [Iā€™m misremembering it], because here it is next to real drugs in a pharmacy.ā€ Not to mention, I have met people who donā€™t know the derivation of ā€œhomeoā€ in homeopathy is ā€œalike.ā€ They think it means something like ā€œhome remedies.ā€ You donā€™t see an explanation of the term on the box anywhere. People know cigarettes are bad, and each pack has a warning; whatā€™s more, in my state, and Iā€™m pretty sure in all states, you have to be over 18 to buy them. You have to be over 18 to buy a lot of medications too, including OTC meds (but not all-- there are some things teens can buy). Iā€™m pretty sure that since homeopathic crap isnā€™t actually medicine, itā€™s ā€œsupplements,ā€ or something, people of any age can buy it, and the packages donā€™t carry warnings that the things they contain have been shown to have no effect whatsoever on any illness of symptom of illness. People SHOULD have to go to general stores or tobacconists for cigarettes, and other smoking products. They should have to go to places that are understood to deal in snake oil, like the GNC, or to a homeopathā€™s office, for homeopathic products. CVS is, IMHO, not concerned about my health, is making a shameless gesture of self-promotion, and expects to make up the revenue lost to cigarettes (which was probably not large anyway) in expansions that were already happening. If CVS really wants to be taken seriously as the vanguard of 21st century healthcare with its clinics, and not just another evolution of the pharmacy/soda fountain\* (which is what the pharmacy/convenience stores are), and mean it, they should get rid of all the snake oil. \*CVS bought out a local chain of drug stores/soda fountains called ā€œHooksā€ years ago, and on the Indiana fairgrounds, runs an old-fashioned time-capsule soda fountain/drug store, where you can buy all kinds of regular OTC drugs, displayed on shelves along with vintage boxes (the regular ones are behind the empty vintage box), and they sell old-fashioned toys, like yo-yos, and wooden cars, and several hand-made things. You can get real sodas made with seltzer and flavorings, and ice cream, and they sell candy sticks, and other kinds of vintage candy. They also sell loose tobacco and pipes. I doubt that will be effected by the ban, particularly since theyā€™ve never had flu shots. [/OT] ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/50 "2014-09-26T02:10:09Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > CVS is, IMHO, not concerned about my health, is making a shameless gesture of self-promotion, and expects to make up the revenue lost to cigarettes (which was probably not large anyway) in expansions that were already happening. If CVS really wants to be taken seriously as the vanguard of 21st century healthcare with its clinics, and not just another evolution of the pharmacy/soda fountain\* (which is what the pharmacy/convenience stores are), and mean it, they should get rid of all the snake oil. Some doctors recommend homeopathics. No doctors that Iā€™ve seen recommend cigarettes. You might disagree that heā€™s a reputable doctor, but Dr. Oz has recommended homeopathics. From reading the article, it sounded like they were trying to appease the medical community in their presentations to partner with them in clinics. However, Rite-Aid has clinics in their stores, and they still sell cigarettes, so it probably wouldnā€™t be impossible to both sell cigarettes and have clinics. If the medical community as a whole objected to homeopathics, they might do away with those as well. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/51 "2014-09-26T02:28:45Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Some doctors recommend homeopathics. No doctors that Iā€™ve seen recommend cigarettes. > > You might disagree that heā€™s a reputable doctor, but Dr. Oz has recommended homeopathics. Well, this guy does: But Dr. Oz has recommended a bunch of stuff. He's clearly a really good surgeon. Nobody doubts that. But he's also sold out, and is willing to have people with all sorts of wacky theories on his show. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/52 "2014-09-26T02:51:13Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, this guy does: > > But Dr. Oz has recommended a bunch of stuff. He's clearly a really good surgeon. Nobody doubts that. But he's also sold out, and is willing to have people with all sorts of wacky theories on his show. That guy in that youtube commercial probably didnā€™t show up in the CVS campaign to complain, due to deadness. šŸ˜› It seems amazing at this point that doctors endorsed cigarettes in the 1950s and 1960s. On a quick search, I found a couple other M.D.s who endorse homeopathy, if only for the placebo effect: > [@](#): > > Dr. Weil feels that homeopathy has value, even if it merely evokes a placebo response. If that response does indeed heal then it has great value - in other words, rather than discounting the placebo response, physicians should exploit it as a safe, effective way to treat disease. > > Iris Bell, M.D., Ph.D., has been the director of research at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and is also a trained homeopathic practitioner. Dr. Bell recommends treating yourself with homeopathic remedies only for acute problems that are likely to be self-limited. [Homeopathic Medicine](http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00470/Homeopathic-Medicine.html) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/53 "2014-09-26T04:33:02Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Some doctors recommend homeopathics. No doctors that Iā€™ve seen recommend cigarettes. > > You might disagree that heā€™s a reputable doctor, but Dr. Oz has recommended homeopathics. Dr. Oz is also married to a Reiki master, and will say anything that makes for good TV. Which probably gets to the heart of the matter. Cigarettes are unpopular enough now that CVS can do this and get patted on the back for it. Homeopathy isnā€™t. Which is stupid. Using homeopathy is as stupid as smoking: even if homeopathy doesnā€™t kill you by giving you heart disease or lung cancer, it has killed people by turning them away from real medicine, and there is no insidious reason for using homeopathy, like the addictive power of water that has been beaten with a horsehair stick. Again, I am no fan of smoking, and I would love it if it were banned from even more public places (like those idiots who drive around with the cigarette dangling out their car window, as though the world is their ashtray, and then when they are done, throw the damn lit cigarette away. One hit my hood the other day, and missed going in my open window by about three feet). But I donā€™t think selling cigarettes at CVS makes people think ā€œAh, the drugstore cells them; they must be good for you!ā€ I think this is true about homeopathic remedies, though-- in fact, a lot of people encounter them for the first time at the drug store, and donā€™t know what they are buying. They are on the shelf next to the real medicines, and there is no warning on them that they contain no active ingredients, and are not medicine. There are no pamphlets on the drugstore shelves defining homeopathy and explaining what it is. If there were, it might not be so troubling. People who go in looking for homeopathic junk are going to get it somewhere. Itā€™s more the people who go in looking for something to relive their cold symptoms and donā€™t know what homeopathy is that Iā€™m more concerned about. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/54 "2014-09-26T04:37:28Z")
I can at least imagine that a reputable doctor might recommend cigarettes in some bizarre case. Cigarettes actually _do_ something, so maybe thereā€™s some weird illness where cigarettes are more helpful than hurtful. Like, maybe thereā€™s some weird cancer that responds well to the combination of nicotine and combustion products. Thatā€™s pretty implausible but I donā€™t think it _violates the laws of physics_ like the mechanism imagined by homeopaths does. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/55 "2014-09-26T04:51:49Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Again, I am no fan of smoking, and I would love it if it were banned from even more public places (like those idiots who drive around with the cigarette dangling out their car window, as though the world is their ashtray, and then when they are done, throw the damn lit cigarette away. I agree with you on the idiots throwing butts out the window, but cigarette ashes? It bugs you that people throw a tiny amount of ashes on a road side? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/56 "2014-09-26T04:58:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There are no pamphlets on the drugstore shelves defining homeopathy and explaining what it is. If there were, it might not be so troubling. Iā€™m wondering why that is. Iā€™ve seen homeopathic stuff at health food stores and thereā€™s always pamphlets right next to them because if they donā€™t explain it, people wonā€™t know which ones are supposed to do which things. Do you think thatā€™s a CVS policy? > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > People who go in looking for homeopathic junk are going to get it somewhere. Itā€™s more the people who go in looking for something to relive their cold symptoms and donā€™t know what homeopathy is that Iā€™m more concerned about. Whatā€™s your concern for those people? If itā€™s just a common cold, it will go away in 7-14 days, with or without treatment, so concern about not getting treated is not a concern. If they take something benign and get the placebo effect of any kind of relief, how is this bad? If nothing happens, they just wonā€™t get it again and realize they wasted some money. But thatā€™s true of most cold remedies. If they get worse, theyā€™ll go to the doctor, possibly thinking that the ā€œtreatmentā€ made them worse, but then theyā€™ll get medical treatment. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/57 "2014-09-26T04:59:22Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I can at least imagine that a reputable doctor might recommend cigarettes in some bizarre case. Cigarettes actually _do_ something, so maybe thereā€™s some weird illness where cigarettes are more helpful than hurtful. Like, maybe thereā€™s some weird cancer that responds well to the combination of nicotine and combustion products. Thatā€™s pretty implausible but I donā€™t think it _violates the laws of physics_ like the mechanism imagined by homeopaths does. Actually, cigarettes were used as a medication delivery system for TB in the 30s. You can still look up the patents for them. They had potassium nitrate, which had a mild antibiotic effect against the bacteria that caused TB, and a derivative of Jimson weed called stramonium, which was a bronchial dilator. I have no idea what else they had. Since people didnā€™t know how harmful tobacco was, but couldnā€™t have missed the fact that it was a stimulant, the cigarettes probably had tobacco in them as well. There are much better treatments for TB now, and nobody gets ā€œconsumptionā€ anymore. At least not in the US or Europe. There are actually things treated with nicotine, IIRC, but with lozenges, or patches. There are also some parents of autistic children who have tried, not under the care of a doctor, but after reading an internet article, or something, to put their kids on nicotine patches. Pretty dangerous, since the doses arenā€™t intended for kids, and no research shows that it works. However the parents claim that when they remove the patches, they kidsā€™ behavior gets worse. Iā€™ll bet it does. Theyā€™re jonesing. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/58 "2014-09-26T05:10:17Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > You had better fucking understand this shit! Itā€™s your goddamn _job_ to understand this shit! The fact that I, with no formal medical training whatsoever, understand this better than you, means you should be _fired_ and replaced with someone who actually fucking knows something about the medicine youā€™re selling! :mad: You sound like you have some serious anger issues. I suggest trying some valerian root capsules. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/59 "2014-09-26T05:11:29Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Iā€™m wondering why that is. Iā€™ve seen homeopathic stuff at health food stores and thereā€™s always pamphlets right next to them because if they donā€™t explain it, people wonā€™t know which ones are supposed to do which things. Do you think thatā€™s a CVS policy? > Whatā€™s your concern for those people? If itā€™s just a common cold, it will go away in 7-14 days, with or without treatment, so concern about not getting treated is not a concern. If they take something benign and get the placebo effect of any kind of relief, how is this bad? If nothing happens, they just wonā€™t get it again and realize they wasted some money. But thatā€™s true of most cold remedies. If they get worse, theyā€™ll go to the doctor, possibly thinking that the ā€œtreatmentā€ made them worse, but then theyā€™ll get medical treatment. Because they are being scammed, they are being sold water under the falsehood that it is a drug. If you bought homeopathic shampoo that was sold in a bottle that looked like the regular product, with a label designed to mimic the actual product, and claims of how luxurious and clean your hair will be without knowing it was nothing but water you wouldnā€™t be pissed? I have no problem with them being allowed to sell it, and informed consumers buying it. But these companies are clearly making most of their money off duped customers, they package it to mimic actual drugs. A big label someone on all homeopathic products that says ā€œTHIS ITEM IS NOT A PHARMACEUTICALā€ would be nice. EDIT:They have homeopathic products for asthma, that is just EVIL. I can imagine some uninformed or poor parent(especially now that there are no OTC asthma inhalers in the USA, and Asthmanephrin is OTC but the handheld nebulizer is fifty bucks by itself) buying this nonsense and giving it to their kid so they can avoid a ER vi$it. Someone could die. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482/60 "2014-09-26T05:18:21Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > You sound like you have some serious anger issues. I suggest trying some valerian root capsules. šŸ˜› And those COULD actually work, unlike homeopathic remedies. Those capsules contain an actual herb, which contains substances that could relieve anxiety, homeopathic remedies contain NOTHING! šŸ™‚ I find people often lump herbal remedies in with homeopathy, but they are totally different, the herb could be effective. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-dumps-cigarettes-keeps-homeopathic-remedies/699482.md?page=4)