By Albert Lin
CVS Caremark announced on Wednesday that it would stop selling all tobacco products—cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco—in its 7,600 drugstores by Oct. 1. CVS is the first national pharmacy chain to make this move, eschewing an estimated $2 billion in annual revenue from the sale of such products.
“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,” President and CEO Larry J. Merlo said in a statement. “Put simply, the sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose.
