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Quitting Tobacco Sales is Good For CVS Caremark and Its Customers

Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”

(New York, USA) ––World Lung Foundation today congratulated CVS Caremark for ending the sale of tobacco products in its 7,600 stores starting October 1st, 2014.

Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Office for WLF, made the following statement about this milestone for public health:

“It is shocking that despite the incontrovertible evidence that smoking kills, we still find cigarettes in stores that purport to stand for health. Today, CVS Caremark has begun to change this. It has made clear that smoking is incompatible with their business practices and by banning tobacco sales at their stores, CVS has taken a bold step in putting the health of its customers before profits. We applaud their decision,” said Baldini. “We also call on other responsible businesses to follow suit and stop selling tobacco products.

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death and disability in the United States, killing 480,000 Americans annually, and sickening millions more. It costs the United States more than $289 billion in health care expenses and other economic costs every year. With smoking rates remaining steady rather than declining, all sectors of our society must do their part. Corporations like CVS can make a significant contribution to reversing the toll of smoking, by taking tobacco products off their shelves and by not participating in the tobacco industry’s efforts to market these products to children. CVS Caremark’s decision may turn out to be most beneficial in reducing the exposure of youth to tobacco products by making smoking more socially unacceptable. This is one means of helping to drive down youth as well as adult smoking rates.

It is fitting that this move comes at the 50th anniversary of the Surgeon General’s landmark report on the harms of smoking. With the epidemic caused by smoking, and with knowledge now that 90 percent of adult smokers began at or before age 18, we must reverse the trend and make it more difficult for people, especially young people to have access to or afford tobacco products. CVS Caremark’s efforts are a welcome step toward this end.”