Tobacco products will not be sold in CVS stores by the time October rolls around Reuters reported Wednesday.
"Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is the right thing for us to do for our customers and our company to help people on their path to better health," Larry Merlo, president and CEO at CVS Caremark told Politico. "Put simply, the sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose," Merlo told Politico.
The change will make CVS the first drug-store chain to remove the products from its stores. The products brought CVS $1.5 billion annually. The retailer expects $130 billion this year.
"CVS Caremark believes that now is the time for retailers, perhaps spurred by policy makers, to eliminate sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products by institutions that also have pharmacies," Dr. Troyen Brennan, chief medical officer at CVS said in a post on the Journal of the American Medical Association's website.
"The CVS retail pharmacy, pharmacy benefit management, and retail-clinic companies are, like others, increasingly developing programs to improve the quality of care and reduce health-care costs. Selling tobacco products is clearly antithetical to both goals," Brennan said in the post "Although the sale of tobacco products in CVS pharmacies produces more than $1.5 billion in revenues annually, the financial gain is outweighed by the paradox inherent in promoting health while contributing to tobacco-related deaths. As a result, CVS has decided to cease tobacco sales in a phased approach over the next year," Brennan said in the post.
Walgreens is also looking into its tobacco sales according to Politico. Consumers will still be able to purchase cigarettes Reuters reported.
"We have been evaluating this product category for some time to balance the choices our customers expect from us, with their ongoing health needs," Walgreens said in a statement Politico reported. "We will continue to evaluate the choice of products our customers want, while also helping to educate them and providing smoking cessation products and alternatives that help to reduce the demand for tobacco products."
