Health oriented organizations and President Barack Obama praised the move.

“As one of the largest retailers and pharmacies in America, CVS Caremark sets a powerful example, and today’s decision will help advance my administration’s efforts to reduce tobacco related deaths, cancer, and heart disease, as well as bring down health care costs ultimately saving lives and protecting untold numbers of families from pain and heartbreak for years to come,” Obama said in a statement Wednesday.

“This is an important, bold public health decision by a major retail pharmacy to act on the long understood reality that blending providing health care and providing cigarettes just doesn’t match,” said Dr. Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer at the American Cancer Society.

“We need an all hands on deck effort to take tobacco products out of the hands of America’s young generation, and to help those who are addicted to quit,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “Today’s CVS Caremark announcement helps bring our country closer to achieving a tobacco free generation. I hope others will follow their lead.”

It remained unclear whether other pharmacies will follow CVS’ lead.

“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 spokesman Jim Graham said in a statement.

“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.”

Meanwhile, David Howard, spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said, “We value the long term relationship with CVS and respect their commercial decision. We will work with them as they transition out of the tobacco category in the coming months.”

Stopping cigarette sales comes at a price. CVS Caremark estimates it will take an annual loss of $2 billion from tobacco shoppers $1.5 billion in tobacco sales and the rest from other products tobacco shoppers purchase while in the store.

The company has enjoyed growing revenues in recent years, boosted by its pharmacy services business and prescription drug sales.

CVS Caremark hasn’t reported its year end results yet, but it took in nearly $94 billion in revenues in the first nine months of 2013, up slightly from the same period in 2012, according to its most recent earnings report.

In 2012, CVS Caremark reported $123.1 billion in revenues, a 15% jump from $107.1 billion the previous year.

“We commend CVS for putting public health ahead of their bottom line and recognizing the need for pharmacies to focus on supporting health and wellness instead of contributing to disease and death caused by tobacco use,” the American Medical Association said.

Asked Wednesday about the reaction of tobacco executives to the decision, CVS Caremark’s Merlo said they were “disappointed. At the same time, I think they understand the paradox that we face as an organization, and they understand the rationale for the decision.”

On whether CVS would extend its ban to other products known to be unhealthy candy, potato chips or alcohol, for instance Merlo told reporters those items, in moderation, do not have the same adverse effects as the use of tobacco.

We know it can kill us Why people still smoke

Helping people quit

The company also announced Wednesday it plans to launch a national smoking cessation program in the spring. The program will include information and treatment on smoking cessation at CVS/pharmacy and Minute Clinic locations in addition to online resources.

Members of the pharmacy benefit management plan will be able to access comprehensive programs to help themselves stop smoking.

Smoking cessation products such as nicotine patches or gum will continue to be available at CVS/pharmacy locations, Dr. Troyen Brennan, chief medical officer for CVS Caremark, said Wednesday.

The last cigarette Nine ex smokers who quit the habit for good

Fewer people smoke today than in the mid 20th century, but there are still a lot of Americans lighting up. In 1965, 42% of the population smoked, compared with 19% today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts said the decline in smoking has plateaued.

It’s no secret that tobacco causes health problems. Cancer, stroke, heart disease and lung diseases are among the results of smoking, according to the CDC. More than 5 million deaths per year are caused by tobacco use. Smokers also tend to die 10 years before nonsmokers, according to the CDC.

Support from public health advocates

The company’s announcement is “a huge step toward our country being able to have a really long lasting culture of health,” said Dr. Risa Lavizzo Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest U.S. philanthropy devoted to public health.

In addition to eliminating a point of sale of tobacco, CVS Caremark’s removal of tobacco products also takes away an advertising opportunity, said Robin Koval, president and CEO of Legacy, an organization that conducts research on tobacco use. Young people who shop at CVS/pharmacy for other reasons will no longer see the array of tobacco products available.

“It’s obviously a landmark decision and one that I hope wakes up the entire retail industry that it’s the right thing to do,” Koval said.

FDA launches teen anti smoking campaign

A report from the California Department of Public Health found that while total cigarette sales decreased between 2005 and 2009 in the United States, sales in pharmacies increased. If sales of cigarettes at pharmacies continue rising at the current rate, by 2020 almost 15% of all U.S. cigarette sales will occur at pharmacies, the report said.

According to a 2011 study in Los Angeles, cited in the report, more than 32% of pharmacies sold cigarettes, and traditional chain pharmacies were far more likely to sell cigarettes than independently owned pharmacies.

Wender noted the CVS move is in line with what the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Medical Association, American Lung Association and American Pharmacists Association have advocated to stop sales of tobacco in retail outlets with pharmacies.

On the other side of the issue, there is a lot of money in tobacco. The cigarette industry spent $8.37 billion in 2011 on advertising and promotions, according to the CDC.

Most tobacco is sold in convenience stores, which would be “a tougher nut to crack” in terms of stopping tobacco sales, Wender said.

But pharmacies are a good place to start, Wender said. He is convinced the removal of tobacco products from CVS/pharmacy locations will result in some smokers quitting, particularly those who have a habit of buying their cigarettes there.

“It’s going to force every one of them to pause and say, ‘Why isn’t my CVS selling cigarettes anymore?’ ” Wender said.

How you can prevent most kinds of cancer

CNNMoney’s Melanie Hicken and Aaron Smith and CNN’s Jen Christensen and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

Ban on e-cig sales, marketing to kids pushed by durbin, waxman

Is it possible to sell a premium cigarette brand in this packaging? – business insider

Levy Thamba was a 19 year old exchange student from Africa, attending college in Wyoming.
On March 11, 2014, while in Colorado with friends, Levy Thamba plunged to his death from a 4th floor hotel balcony, after ingesting cookies laced with marijuana. As of Jan1, 2014, Colorado law allows the purchase of marijuana for recreational use for those over 21.
The Medical Examiner listed marijuana intoxication as the contributing factor to the death of Levy Thamba. The investigation did not find evidence of prior drug use or anti social behavior on the part of Levy Thamba and concluded that the purchase of marijuana was the main reason for the trip. Over 20 states permit medical marijuana , and many states have decriminalized possession of small amounts. Colorado officials admit they gave no thought to the potency or the effects of edible marijuana such as the cookies eaten by Levy Thamba. Decades of research prove that ingesting a large amount of potent marijuana may cause violent, anxious and paranoid behavior.
Across the USA, medical marijuana is being purchased legally and then resold to youth. Young people, emboldened by decriminalization and lax law enforcement, are becoming first time users. You might say that a GATEWAY has been created.
The, 4/6/2014, Washington Post, reports, due in part to decriminalization and the large supply of high quality marijuana grown in the USA, Wholesale prices, in the last 5 years, have dropped dramatically. Mexican growers have shifted to growing opium poppies that are turned into heroin, cheap heroin . Thus, the number of heroin users in the USA has doubled to 700,000.
The sale of recreational marijuana conflicts with federal law, and the stores could be closed immediately. Medical marijuana could be dispensed in pill or spray form, without the mind altering effects, an even more effective method of delivering the Medical Benefits.
Neither of these actions have been taken and the marijuana business goes on as usual. The campaign for further legalization continues.
On April 14, 2014 Illinois Senator Richard Durbin stepped forward and proclaimed, WE MUST CLOSE THIS NEW GATEWAY TO ADDICTION TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN .
Mr. Durbin was not talking about the ill conceived changes, based on greed, to existing laws concerning marijuana. Changes that are responsible for the death of Levy Thamba and the epidemic of cheap heroin . He is talking about a little device consisting of a lithium battery,, like the one in your cellphone but not as powerful, that heats a cartridge that contains a mixture of water, propylene glycol, (a legal product found in food, toothpaste, medicine etc.) that makes the fake smoke, food grade flavoring and about 2% of the mixture is pure nicotine. It is called an electronic cigarette, and should really be called a personal nicotine vaporizer . This device has
enabled me, a once hopelessly addicted tobacco cigarette smoker, to be tobacco free for 3.5 years and enjoy health. If the E Cig was around 20 years ago, perhaps my dear aunt,very intelligent except for her cigarette addiction, could have been spared a horrible passing caused by lung cancer.
Not one of the front line fighters in the War on E Cigs and the Campaign of Fear directed against 41.1 million Americans addicted to tobacco, has in anyway taken one action or attempt or suggestion to unwind the catastrophe of which the death of Levy Thamba, who was somebody s son, is a direct result.
There has been one unfortunate death caused by accidental poisoning due to E Cigs. Ivy the dog got hold of ecig cartridges ate them and died. All of the the dozens of hazardous if ingested items, toothpaste, certain plants etc. should be kept out of reach.
A Google search turned up
73,000 results for Ivy the dog e cig poisoning.
8,000 results for Levy Thamba marijuana
Who is directing this propaganda campaign against against e cigs and why?
Bloomberg News 2/19/2014 reports, GLAXO Memo Shows Drug Industry Lobbying on E Cigs .
Glaxo and Pfizer, 2 pharma giants, sell smoking cessation products, nicotine gum, patches and lozenges that might look like candy to a child. Nicotine inhalers that look like cigarettes, and a spray that contains liquid nicotine along with 6 other chemicals. They also sell anti smoking pills, Zyban (welbutrin) and Chantix. Both are mind altering psychiatric drugs. Both have Black Box FDA warnings of dangerous side effects, worsening depression, suicidal thoughts/ actions etc.
Chantix is number one in adverse event reporting to the FDA. These companies are losing business to the ECIG, and they do not like it.
Pharma contributed ELEVEN million dollars to politicians in the 2010 11 election cycle and spends 2.4 billion each year n the MEDIA. Thus the war on e cig”.
Both Glaxo and Pfizer have plead guilty to civil and criminal charges brought by the US Dept. of Justice regarding illegal promotion of certain drugs and paid fines.
Pfizer $2.3 Billion Sept, 2009
Glaxo $3 Billion July 2012 GLAXO plead guilty to using illegal and fraudulent methods to target children and adolescents through their doctors for the sale of dangerous anti depressants not approved for those under 18.
It seems wherever there is anti ECIG talk there is Glaxo Center For Public Integrity reported that Gov. Christie attended a fund raiser, in his behalf at the Washington home of Ed Rogers, a powerful lobbyist for Glaxo. At $3800 a ticket Gov. Christie of New Jersey walked away with $$$. Gov Christie is currently trying to get a 98% TAX on ECIGS passed and put them out of business in N.J.
The American Lung Association, BIG ECIG haters. Propublica, public records show $2.1 million from Glaxo in 2011 12 to the American Lung Assoc. ETC. ETC.
For 10 years, prior to his appointment as the head of Tobacco Policy for the FDA, Mitch Zeller was an executive with Pinney, a pharma consulting firm, that for 15 years, had the exclusive contract with GLAXO to promote it s quit smoking” products. Mr. Zeller is on record in stating that the FDA has no interest in regulating marijuana.
Senator Durbin s last attempt to take out an enemy of BIG PHARMA, VITAMINS, through the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act, would have put the GOV. between you and your vitamins.
The Durbin Report reveals that the ECIG industry spent 70 billion on advertising and it appears to HIM that they are targeting children.
Big Pharma spends 2. 4 billion with cartoons that show a gray sky turning blue after you take your SECOND anti depressant. Beer and liquor ads, everywhere you look or listen. The constantly quoted Center for Disease Control reports 4700 KIDS under 21 die each year from EXCESSIVE Alcohol Consumption Neither Big Pharma or Big Liquor seem to bother anyone. Michael Jackson died with Valium and Lorezapam in his system ,not nicotine.
It Appears that Senator Durbin and the Pharmaceutical Industry have so much in common that it s a phenomenon