# CVS plans to stop selling tobacco **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640 "2014-02-06T04:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/21 "2014-02-06T16:45:23Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > But I still like Walgreen’s better–most CVS’s just seem a bit crummy to me. (There’s one in downtown Houston–located in the old Neiman Marcus building.) So I will continue to not buy ciggies at Walgreen’s… Huh - that’s funny. In my town the 2 Walgreens are very shabby and ill-kept and 2 CVS stores are much better kept. The third CVS, well, we won’t discuss that one. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/22 "2014-02-06T23:03:28Z")
It will influence me to shop at CVS instead of Walgreens. ---
**Author:** ![Karrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@Karrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karrius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/23 "2014-02-06T23:48:24Z")
[Should CVS be forced to sell cigarettes? I mean, they’re not illegal!](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/05/fox-freaks-out-over-cvs-ending-sales-of-tobacco/197947) Yup. Yup… It’s amazing to see people lose their heads over this. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/24 "2014-02-06T23:52:47Z")
Of course FOX is freaking out about this. President Obama congratulated CVS on their action, so FOX had to come out in favor of smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/25 "2014-02-06T23:53:25Z")
They would have been against it anyway. “Wussification of America,” yada yada yada. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/26 "2014-02-07T00:33:34Z")
I love Gretchen Carlson wondering if it’s illegal for CVS to stop selling tobacco products. That’s pretty much FOX news in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/27 "2014-02-07T00:49:19Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > San Francisco already forces drug stores to do this. This might not generally affect me, but I don’t like the idea of implying that humans are lazy dumbasses who will quit smoking when it becomes inconvenient to them. That’s not what they’re implying at all. What a bizarre interpretation of this decision. As has been pointed out already, this is a marketing/branding decision. > [@PastTense](#): > > One major aspect of a CVS store is a convenience store–anyone care to hazard a guess as to what percent of their square footage is not healthcare related? So I would expect a significant decline in their convenience store type traffic. > > I predict the decision will be reversed within a couple years. I love easy money. How much would you like to wager on this? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/28 "2014-02-07T01:53:09Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I thought the same thing when I heard the news! A few weeks back I was in a Walgreens and while checking out it did occur to me that it was odd for a place that advertised itself to be at **the corner of health and happiness** to be selling tobacco products. …the corner of health and/or happiness? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/29 "2014-02-07T02:00:17Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That’s not what they’re implying at all. What a bizarre interpretation of this decision. As has been pointed out already, this is a marketing/branding decision. Yes they are doing it because they think it will help their bottom line, but if that happens, it is because people feel strongly about it, for many reasons similar to outright prohibition. They are of course allowed to do it as a private business. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/30 "2014-02-07T02:21:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I love Gretchen Carlson wondering if it’s illegal for CVS to stop selling tobacco products. > > That’s pretty much FOX news in a nutshell. At the corner of stupid and crazy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/31 "2014-02-07T03:22:34Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I love Gretchen Carlson wondering if it’s illegal for CVS to stop selling tobacco products. > > That’s pretty much FOX news in a nutshell. Is she actually making the argument that stores in the US should be forced by the government to sell products that they don’t want to sell? ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/32 "2014-02-08T11:08:27Z")
CVS is a pharmacy, right? Pharmacies in America sell _cigarettes?!_ Do your dentists sell Coke? Do your psychiatrists sell LSD? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/33 "2014-02-08T11:55:14Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Is she actually making the argument that stores in the US should be forced by the government to sell products that they don’t want to sell? I think she’s too confused for anything she says to constitute ‘making an argument’ for a given proposition. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/34 "2014-02-08T12:02:13Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > CVS is a pharmacy, right? > > Pharmacies in America sell _cigarettes?!_ > > Do your dentists sell Coke? Do your psychiatrists sell LSD? CVS is more like a store with a pharmacy in the back. They sell food, cosmetics, OTC medicine, etc. The pharmacy which dispenses prescription drugs is usually in the back of the store. You can pick up your prescription and then get some shampoo, makeup, potato chips, toilet paper, batteries, magazine and a candy bar and pay for that stuff in the front on your way out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/35 "2014-02-08T12:05:09Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > Do your psychiatrists sell LSD? No, but it would be sensible for them to be able to prescribe it. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/36 "2014-02-08T12:36:54Z")
I just hope they don’t stop selling Coke I always pick up a couple of twenty ouncers when I’m picking up my diabetes medication; it’s just so convenient How far will the nanny state go? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/37 "2014-02-08T14:00:24Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I just hope they don’t stop selling Coke > > I always pick up a couple of twenty ouncers when I’m picking up my diabetes medication; it’s just so convenient > > How far will the nanny state go? You make a good point but I don’t think nanny state applies in this situation seeing how this was the company’s decision; not the government’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/38 "2014-02-08T14:01:30Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > CVS is a pharmacy, right? > > Pharmacies in America sell _cigarettes?!_ > > Do your dentists sell Coke? Do your psychiatrists sell LSD? I know a dentist who sponsors a youth hockey team. I asked him what he did in the off season, sponsor a candy eating contest? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/39 "2014-02-08T14:41:08Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > CVS is a pharmacy, right? Not really. If you look back a few decades the U.S. had a retail segment called the variety store (Woolworth and Kresge were a couple major chains). These stores have virtually completely disappeared. Variety store merchandize has not disappeared; instead it now bought at drugstores, discount stores (Kresge morphed into K-Mart), supermarkets. The traditional drugstore common at the time of variety stories was much smaller–mostly the pharmacy and HBA (health and beauty). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640/40 "2014-02-08T14:48:49Z")
CVS is just the latest in a long line of retailers to drop cigarettes. Target did all the way back in 1996 and Wegmans (the largest grocery store chain in NY state) did it in 2008. > **[Wegmans to End Sale Of Cigarettes in Stores](https://cornellsun.com/2008/01/22/wegmans-to-end-sale-of-cigarettes-in-stores/)** > > Wegmans recently announced that it would no longer carry tobacco products in an attempt to stop cigarettes from appearing as a grocery staple, especially for the sake of children. > Next to the cigarettes, which reside behind a counter, a sign... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cvs-plans-to-stop-selling-tobacco/680640.md?page=3)