CVS Pharmacy announced in February they will no longer sell tobacco products beginning in October.

This is a step in the right direction and will hopefully create a movement in the pharmaceutical community to follow the leader.

Selling tobacco products seems to not align with a business that promotes being healthy.

When sickness or injuries occur, CVS is one of the more popular choices to go and get healthcare supplies. So when the decision to stop selling tobacco products was announced, it made sense. Going to a drugstore is to make you better, not promote unhealthy, cancer-causing, habits.

In a statement by CEO of CVS Larry J. Merlo, he explained their reason for ending tobacco sales is to help promote healthy lifestyles.

CVS will take a $2 billion loss from tobacco sales, but will ultimately gain followers due to their position on tobacco.

This stand shows how different our society is now.

According to the Center for Disease Control, 42 percent of the population were smokers in 1965 and now only 19 percent of the population smokes.

Tobacco users would consider CVS a one stop shop that allowed them to pick up groceries, maybe a prescription and, at the register, a pack of cigarettes. The convenience of buying cigarettes at CVS is gone, so maybe it will help deter smoking for some.   

Interesting parallels are currently being drawn between ads for electronic cigarettes, counter-ads by the CDC, and now CVS making a public announcement to not carry tobacco products.

The CDC aired a public service announcement in Jan. called “5.6 Million Children” urging toward a tobacco-free society – or 5.6 million children will die from tobacco products.

Electronic cigarettes are a new product tobacco companies have started marketing on TV. Their target audience would be smokers and nonsmokers, so those that oppose smoking are now coming to the forefront of the tobacco-free battle.