CVS Cuts $2 Billion Revenue

443,000 people die each year from smoking and secondhand smoke. Today, CVS Pharmacy is tackling this statistic and taking a stand. CVS will no longer sell tobacco products in any one of their 7,700 stores nation wide. As the second leading drug store in the U.S. after Walgreens, they hope this will be an example for other stores. Announced in February, the company said that the sale of tobacco conflicted with their health care mission. Offically, this was set to take place on Oct. 1 of but happening a month earlier shows how important it is to the company to start making a difference now. With the $2 billion cut in revenue, CVS couldn't send a bigger message to its customers that smoking is just not worth it.

Along with this major change in retail, CVS will launch a smoking-cessation campaign that will help educate and motivate smokers to quit the deadly habit. They are confident with their deision after a similiar study was done in San francisco and Boston pharmacies that showed a 13% decrease in purchasers who stopped buying tobacco all together instead of just switching retail stores. The study will be published in the Health Affairs journal.

Sources; NBC news

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