Newspaper editorials Hail CVS’s Decision to End Tobacco Sales
February 07, 2014
Since CVS Caremark announced its decision to end tobacco sales, support has poured in from a range of opinion leaders, including newspapers across the nation. editorials have praised CVS’s leadership and urged other drug stores to follow its example.
The New York Times: 'The decision will cost the company a substantial amount of money but will place CVS where it and other pharmacy chains belong – on the side of customer health and against a product that still kills 480,000 Americans a year…. (I)f other big retailers like Walgreen, Rite Aid and Walmart decided to follow suit, their combined weight could drive home the message that the availability of this lethal consumer product should be curtailed as much as possible and that tobacco use is socially unacceptable.'
USA TODAY: 'If CVS' move puts more pressure on other big, brand-conscious retailers to join the parade away from tobacco, all the better. Airlines and hotels have already gambled that smoke-free environments can also be good for business, and they were right.'
Chicago Sun-Times: 'Walgreens, like CVS, emphasizes good health, most notably with its slogan 'At the corner of happy & healthy.' Pressure in the wake of CVS’ decision will, perhaps, push Walgreens to truly live that slogan.'
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): 'CVS earns high praise for kicking the tobacco-selling habit. Its direct competitors — including Walgreens, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart — still sell smokes. So do most grocers and discount stores. Anti-smoking groups will surely use the CVS pivot to pressure other tobacco retailers. Expect one or more to follow suit before the end of the year. And that means this market-driven decision still lands a punch in the anti-smoking fight.'
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY): 'While places like Kentucky, which pays dearly for smoking yet continues to dither and grapple with whether to enact a statewide smoking ban in workplaces restaurants and bars (what is the hold up, people in Frankfort?), it is heartening to see a big player step forward and make some real news in the name of wellness.'
Baltimore Sun: '[CVS's] decision changes the political dynamics of regulations about where tobacco is sold … it is an important step in the effort to send a unified message that smoking is not and should not be accepted as the norm.'
New York Daily News: '[CVS's decision] will make it that much harder for smokers to kill themselves softly — adding one more meaningful obstacle alongside indoor-puffing bans, high taxes and straight-talking TV ads.'
Former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw also weighed in: '(T)hank you, CVS for putting health, a national security issue, over profit. You didn't lose my cigarette business because I haven't smoked in 45 years. But you did gain my admiration — and now I know where I’ll buy my toothpaste, razors, shampoo, cold tablets, cough drops, sunscreen and vitamin pills.'