CVS is First to Make Positive Changes Regarding Tobacco Sales
CVS is one of the largest drugstores in North America, providing customers with aid and assistance regarding their health. Recently, this company has decided to phase out the sale of tobacco products in its stores. This is a significant move for a company that had an overall revenue of $123 billion in 2012. It is phenomenal that the executives of CVS not only realized the hypocrisy of selling tobacco, but also took action to fix it, despite the fact that they will be loosing billions of dollars in revenue.
Although CVS isn’t the largest seller of tobacco each year, they have set a precedent for many other larger drugstores to now follow their path. This social pressure on large corporations could begin the slow phase out of tobacco products. Other companies, such as Walgreens, have already expressed that they have been analyzing the sales of their own tobacco products. It will be interesting to see if and how companies, including those in the tobacco industry, will respond.
Perhaps this is the start of the end for tobacco. Eventually, tobacco could be administered such as alcohol is in Canada; only in permitted and licensed stores. Regardless of if and what happens in the aftermath of this decision, CVS should be acknowledged for their positive change.