CVS Pharmacy will Stop the Sale of Cigarettes

[Kontra Kommando]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/health/cvs-cigarettes/

Bravo! I had smoked cigarettes for 13 years, and regret the day I started. I think about the damage it has done to my health, and the money I had spent over the years. Regardless of your attitudes toward freedoms of consumption; I think we can all agree that only good can come of this. I hope other major companies choose to do the same.

[Maes]

They sold cigarettes. At a pharmacy store. Sounds like something out of a -not so good- joke O_o

[Kontra Kommando]

Maes said:

They sold cigarettes. At a pharmacy store. Sounds like something out of a -not so good- joke O_o

In some CVSs, they sell drinking alcohol too. Which is almost medicine, I guess. At least it was during the Civil War, for gangrene amputees.

[fraggle]

Surprised it took them this long. It's about time.

[Sokoro]

You americans are all crazy, selling cigarettes at pharmacy stores.
And to think that fraggle moved into USA (afaik), poor guy.

[Technician]

If they sold vaporizers and pure tobacco it wouldn't be so bad.

[Waffenak]

Oh the irony of this subject

[geo]

It only makes them look good to not sell them, but yes a pharmacy selling smokes. Eh whatever, they gotta make money even at the loss of their integrity.

[geekmarine]

Wonder what they're gonna do... Seems like whenever I go to CVS, half the people there are just there to pick up a pack of smokes. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it's a good idea for a pharmacy to not sell cigarettes, but yeah, I can't help but wonder how badly they're gonna hurt for this.

[Aliotroph?]

Sweet. I like things that hurt the sale of cigarettes. I don't see why anyone is upset about alcohol. That stuff is positively good for you in smaller doses.

[Kontra Kommando]

Aliotroph? said:

That stuff is positively good for you in smaller doses.

That's true, I read a study that said, people that drink in small moderate amounts are healthier than people who abstain.

[Maes]

Aliotroph? said:

Sweet. I like things that hurt the sale of cigarettes. I don't see why anyone is upset about alcohol. That stuff is positively good for you in smaller doses.

There was a controversial research some years ago, that claimed that roughly 25% of people not only were not harmed by smoking, but that even derived some benefits (!) from it. After well, we all heard stories such as "My grandpa smoked cigars everyday, and he lived to be 98!".

Medically, the claim is not entirely bullshit: nicotine can indeed boost metabolism and even normalize hematocrite levels in some people who have a naturally low hematocrite index.... don't be so hasty to quit, you might be one of the lucky 25% that can puff away at their hearts' (lungs'?) content. ;-)

[j4rio]

Here's a funnier reseach based on actual facts. Cause of death of 20% of smokers is attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It's also the fourth most common cause of death on Earth.

[Grazza]

So my wife's letter to Amy Klobuchar on this very subject had some impact. :p

To anyone not from the US who is astonished that tobacco is/was ever sold at pharmacies in the US, note that a large proportion of pharmacies are sections within much larger stores, which sell a wide range of other goods, and often food, etc. (Indeed, in New Orleans, the CVS was recommended to me as the best place to buy alcohol "in quaaantity".) So it is natural that a wider range of products are available within these stores than you would find in the more dedicated pharmacy stores that are more common in Europe. I think the UK law is that tobacco products can be sold in stores with a pharmacy, but only from a separate "kiosk" area. I'd always wondered why they had those, and only found out when my wife was researching the topic for the course she's doing at the moment (no, it's not a course in writing pompous letters to politicians stating the obvious about topics that the politician in question no doubt already supports...).

The main reason put forward by some of the big pharmacy stores for selling cigarettes is that smokers are going to buy them somewhere, so it is best if they buy them where they can get advice on quitting, etc. Yeah, right.

Edit (response to wesleyjohnson below): yes, other side of the cities.

[wesleyjohnson]

Grazza, you have to close by here (GV MN, west MPLS).

[Cupboard]

Highly relevant clip. Pick some better drugs, people.

[Quast]

Grazza said:

The main reason put forward by some of the big pharmacy stores for selling cigarettes is that smokers are going to buy them somewhere, so it is best if they buy them where they can get advice on quitting, etc.

Do 'pharmacy stores' actually do anything like that that in any real capacity? Do they sell 3.2 beer too?

I can't say I've heard of cvs but we have a walgreens around here that likes to advertise itself as a kind of pharmacy/grocer/convenience store though I've never shopped there. People that buy cigarettes are going to buy them at gas stations, not a pharmacy.

[Technician]

TheCupboard said:

Highly relevant clip. Pick some better drugs, people.

lol Death sticks? I don't even remember that part. God George is autistic.

I'm surprised that hasn't become some kind of meme or something.

[myk]

TheCupboard said:
Pick some better drugs, people.

It's for the benefit of the animals!

No--only rabbit, and that's everywhere, of course. And man--that's everywhere, too. But that smell might very well have nothing to do with it. All it tells us is that a man walked through the wood and threw a white stick down. It wasn't a man that tore up this ground.

[fraggle]

j4rio said:

Here's a funnier reseach based on actual facts. Cause of death of 20% of smokers is attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It's also the fourth most common cause of death on Earth.

By an interesting coincidence:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26064849

[imp1979]

I quit smoking just over a month ago after about 17 years so I could care less. And besides, one of the few times I bought smokes from there they were stale. Tasted really old. Like, expired or a bad batch or something. Never happened to me before.

[Inkie]

Quast said:

I can't say I've heard of cvs but we have a walgreens around here that likes to advertise itself as a kind of pharmacy/grocer/convenience store though I've never shopped there. People that buy cigarettes are going to buy them at gas stations, not a pharmacy.

CVS is fairly similar to Walgreens. Walgreens tend to be slightly better though.

[Springy]

Why the heck would a pharmacy stock cigarettes in the first place? What next, the AA starts selling alcohol at their meetings?

[40oz]

My wife is a smoker and she's thrilled by this. She told me shed have much more incentive to quit smoking if cigarettes weren't so readily available. Everytime we go to a pharmacy or grocery store or gas station she's immediately reminded she can get smokes here. If she had to travel to some no-name obscure location to get them, quitting would be a piece of cake.

[Kontra Kommando]

40oz said:

My wife is a smoker and she's thrilled by this. She told me shed have much more incentive to quit smoking if cigarettes weren't so readily available. Everytime we go to a pharmacy or grocery store or gas station she's immediately reminded she can get smokes here. If she had to travel to some no-name obscure location to get them, quitting would be a piece of cake.

What would trigger my desire to smoke, is if I hang out and have a few drinks. Its hard to fight a highly addictive drug like cigarettes, after you reduce your inhibition by drinking. You end up seeing someone having a cigarette, and decide to bum one off of them. Also, since smoking is illegal to do in bars here, it has fostered a different type of activity; going out for a "breath of fresh air", ironically. If you're a smoker, and dislike consistently being in a bar; going outside for a smoke is appealing for a change of atmosphere. Its also a good place to talk to pretty girls. But I'm taken, and rarely go out to waste money in bars now. Perhaps this is what's making me abstain.