Banning Cigarette Sales

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Not a smoker here but I saw a commercial last night about CVS banning cigarette sales and offering help to smokers quitting smoking.

Do you think stores like this are onto something good or are they in the wrong for picking one item to single out as unhealthy, then stop selling it? ...I mean they still sell alcohol, pills, junk food, etc etc. What kind of health conscious mixed message are they sending by still having potentially harmful products for sale but no cigarettes?

 

[+paradox]

yeah, exactly...

and what's also funny is that it's been rumored that they will lose a lot of money as the result of the choice... but either way i don't care... i think one step is a good step if they're trying to save lives... i think stopping the sells of cigs is totally different as to stop selling pills and junk food, as cigarettes don't really have any positives to it...

 

[Dee]

Not a smoker here but I saw a commercial last night about CVS banning cigarette sales and offering help to smokers quitting smoking.

Do you think stores like this are onto something good or are they in the wrong for picking one item to single out as unhealthy, then stop selling it? ...I mean they still sell alcohol, pills, junk food, etc etc. What kind of health conscious mixed message are they sending by still having potentially harmful products for sale but no cigarettes?

Well, I'm not condoning banning the sale of everything potentially harmful, but one cigarette vs. one glass of wine does much more damage. The other examples all depend on how much is consumed, individual health and lifestyle, etc. You're probably not going to die from eating a Twinkie everyday; that is, if you exercise and eat other foods that are healthy for you. Cigarettes, in general, are just absolutely of no benefit to your health, and only do harm as opposed to little to no harm depending on those additional factors.

I, however, don't think there's anything wrong with this. The store is taking on a healthier outlook and to sell something devastating to ones health seems counter productive. It probably wasn't a very easy decision from a financial standpoint considering it's easy to walk in there and buy cigarettes. They're losing out on money, but it sounds like they've made a decision to focus on other things instead.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I suppose if it started a chain reaction and all stores banned cigarettes, that would be an achievement. But every CVS I've ever seen was in close proximity to liquor stores, grocery stores, rite aide/ walgreens, gas stations, etc. All of which sell cigarettes.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Just cannot make some people happy. They are going to lose something close to a billion in sales I think I heard by trying to go a positive way. What they are hoping is people will appreciate this and maybe use them more then the competition across the street. And they are not banning anything. They are not the government. They are just not selling a certain product.

 

[DrLeftover]

One of the press releases I saw from CVS had some tripe in it about the "well being of the community".

My ass.

More than likely there is some sort of class action lawsuit in the wind (like the lawsuits against the manufacturers several years ago) targeting retail outlets and they wanted to duck and run while the getting was good.

 

[+paradox]

One of the press releases I saw from CVS had some tripe in it about the "well being of the community".

My ass.

More than likely there is some sort of class action lawsuit in the wind (like the lawsuits against the manufacturers several years ago) targeting retail outlets and they wanted to duck and run while the getting was good.

none of the class-action lawsuits against cvs has anything to do with tobacco or the sale of...

more with their deceiving ways of telling their customers to upgrade to name brand medications and such...

 

[DrLeftover]

The probable pending class action lawsuit would be against TOBACCO Retailers.

 

[+paradox]

the ceo of cvs and the executives were thinking about not selling cigs for years now...