Attorneys General Ask Big Retailers To Pull Tobacco From Stores
Attorneys general from 28 states are urging drugstores and large retailers to stop selling tobacco products. In letters sent to Kroger, Wal-Mart, and other store chains, the officials ask companies to follow the example of pharmacy chain CVS, which announced last month that it's ending tobacco sales.
The bipartisan group of officials sent signed letters to leaders of five of the country's biggest retailers whose stores include pharmacies: Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Safeway, and Kroger. They warned that selling tobacco in the stores "normalizes" the products, potentially undermining anti-smoking campaigns.
NPR's Joel Rose reports for our Newscast unit:.
"The letters argue that it is contradictory for pharmacies and drugstores that offer health care services to also sell 'dangerous and devastating tobacco products.'
"New York's Eric Schneiderman and Ohio's Mike DeWine led the bipartisan group, which also includes attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois.
"The letters do not explicitly mention the possibility of legal action if stores decline to ban tobacco products. They simply urge the companies to follow the lead of drugstore chain CVS, which is voluntarily removing tobacco from its stores."