CVS is going to stop selling tobacco products

[Racket_Man]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSto...ducts-22371836

Now I have no real problem with this action. Companies can and do choose what products to sell or not sell. YES they are a "healthcare" type company and wish to "clean up" their image.

NOW the BUT

What I have a problem is this ----- They STILL sell very unhealthy things like soda, candy , chips, gum, ice cream, "energy" drinks, "modern" parmacutical chemicals that have seriously nasty side effects, etc.

A little hypocritical from my point of view.

[HYHYBT]

How many people have ice cream or whatever as a treat now and then, as opposed to people who do the same with cigarettes?

[Greenday]

Change starts one step at a time. Getting cigarettes is much more important than a lot of the things you listed.

[s_stabeler]

also, another thing to bear in mind is that you shouldn't dismiss minor progress in the pursuit of perfection. Yes, it would be helpful if CVS also took other products off the shelves. (although expecting them to take pharmaceuticals off the shelves is being ridiculous- they are a pharmacy.)

another point is that there is no safe way to smoke- whereas soda, candy, chips, gum, ice cream and energy drinks are at least neutral if used in moderation.

[TheHuckster]

Equating cigarettes to pharmaceutical chemicals which were approved by the FDA and prescribed by a licensed and trained doctor is ridiculous. Yes, some have bad side-effects, but: a.) Not everyone experiences the same side-effects, b.) Some side-effects only occur if someone uses the pills wrong or in combination with another drug, and c.) the side-effects could still be more beneficial to the user than not taking them at all.

As for soda and snacks, there's also major differences: a.) These things do not contain additives which make you addicted to them, b.) In moderation, they won't cause nearly as many health problems as cigarettes (especially if you counter them with other nutrients and exercise) and c.) When you consume them, you are not risking others' health.

I find the whole analogy of cigarettes to Skittles and Oxycontin to be irritating. If you want to get Skittles off the shelf because some people eat them in lieu of dinner and get diabetes as a result, fine, but remember that anything in excess is unhealthy. And if you want to get Oxycontin banned because some people abuse it and don't follow doctors orders on how to use it responsibly, then tell that to my mother in agony years ago when, without it, she could barely twitch without wincing. And, no, she didn't become addicted to it after she recovered, nor did she have any side-effects besides some drowsiness and a dry mouth.

[bex1218]

I could care less what a store does. But I will be in the middle of the whole thing cause I work for the other pharmacy in direct competition. I can't wait for those SCs to come out yelling at me cause we still sell the cancer sticks.

This will be an interesting year.

[Andara Bledin]

As for soda and snacks, there's also major differences: a.) These things do not contain additives which make you addicted to them, b.) In moderation, they won't cause nearly as many health problems as cigarettes (especially if you counter them with other nutrients and exercise) and c.) When you consume them, you are not risking others' health.

Just a note, but your point a. is actually wrong. Caffeine is highly addictive in small enough doses that 2 cups of coffee or 2 cans of caffeinated soda are enough to cause a minor physical dependency. However, the low-end is so low that most people never notice until they get much higher. Also, while the jury is out on whether sugar is physically addictive, there is no doubt that it's one of the more psychologically addictive substances out there, likely due, in part, to its extreme availability.

Junk food makers are no better than the cigarette makers (and in some cases, are part of the same corporation) except that junk food isn't carcinogenic.

All that said, I'm totally cool with CVS and other pharmacies getting out of the tobacco business and think it makes sense. But, then, I'm also not a smoker.

[TheHuckster]

Just a note, but your point a. is actually wrong. Caffeine is highly addictive in small enough doses that 2 cups of coffee or 2 cans of caffeinated soda are enough to cause a minor physical dependency. However, the low-end is so low that most people never notice until they get much higher. Also, while the jury is out on whether sugar is physically addictive, there is no doubt that it's one of the more psychologically addictive substances out there, likely due, in part, to its extreme availability.

Caffeine is addictive, for sure, but there are plenty of healthier ways to get a caffeine kick other than with soda. People's addiction to caffeine (I'm one of them) are due to the morning-kickoff effects it has, while nicotine historically has had two purposes: To get people hooked on cigarettes and to wean people off cigarettes via patches or gum.

Sugar might be physically addictive, but it's still a necessary part of one's diet. Obviously candy and soda give your body an excessive burst of sugar, but if you consume candy intelligently and responsibly, there is nothing wrong with the occasional pack of candy.

I totally disagree with the notion that junk food is as bad as cigarettes. What this boils down to for me is cigarettes have absolutely no benefit to one's health or well-being, even if consumed sparingly. Candy can still have benefits if one's blood sugar is low and they want a quick solution to it, or if they simply want a snack that doesn't replace a hearty and healthy meal.

[cindybubbles]

You know what makes junk food better than cigarettes? The fact that there's no such thing as second-hand junk food, so you can't get fat just by smelling your friend's breath, unlike cigarettes and the second-hand smoke that comes with it.

You don't have to worry about killing or physically hurting your kids when eating junk food, but you do have to worry about it when you smoke.

[bex1218]

Only thing I can see remotely close to smokes is alcohol. There is no second hand drunkness, but there is a possibility of someone getting hurt or killed if the person drinking does something stupid like driving impaired. And I don't see any actual benefits to consuming alcohol. Plus it could kill you quicker than smokes.

Same could be said for medication, but that does have benefits if taken for the right reasons.

[Andara Bledin]

Actually, the vast majority of everything is beneficial in the right doses and applications. That includes alcohol and tobacco (the latter is best used as a poultice, from what I've heard).

[bara]

Well... I for one am pleased. I was worried I would continue to be forced to drive a mile and a half and pay 50-75 cents more per pack rather than simply walking to the gas station at the corner of the street.

[HYHYBT]

Only thing I can see remotely close to smokes is alcohol. There is no second hand drunkness, but there is a possibility of someone getting hurt or killed if the person drinking does something stupid like driving impaired. And I don't see any actual benefits to consuming alcohol. Plus it could kill you quicker than smokes.

In that sense, alcohol is much worse; second-hand smoke is much less harmful than first-hand, being so much more diluted and (these days, anyway) rare in most places, and being on nicotine doesn't make people act dangerously like alcohol does.

But CVS doesn't sell alcohol anyway. At least, not the drinking kind.

[Gravekeeper]

Comparing junk food and soda to cigarettes is pretty silly, yes. You're comparing the single leading cause of preventable death in the entire world against Coke and Doritos. -.-

Just a note, but your point a. is actually wrong. Caffeine is highly addictive in small enough doses that 2 cups of coffee or 2 cans of caffeinated soda are enough to cause a minor physical dependency. However, the low-end is so low that most people never notice until they get much higher.

Highly addictive and minor physical dependency are two different things. Plus coffee has 5 times the caffeine of soda. 1 cup of coffee is 3 cans of cola. So tt takes one good cup of coffee a day to hit the threshold for creating a minor physical dependency ( 100mg ) but it would take 3 cans of soda. Plus the withdrawal symptoms of caffeine last a maximum of 9 days in the worst case scenario and mainly consist of headaches and irritability.

Nicotine on the other hand is on pair with heroin. The withdrawal symptoms are brutal and they can last for months in the best case scenario. Even after the body manages to cover the physiological cravings can continue for years if not a life time.

The reason is because the mechanism is different. Caffeine is a stimulant. Nicotine is essentially the same effect as cocaine or heroin.

Caffeine peps you up because it interferes with one of the neurotransmitter in your brain that tells you you're tired which in turn reduces dopamine levels. So you feel pepped up because your dopamine levels at an "Awake" kind of level. ( Which is also why you crash afterwards, because it's a false "Awake" ). Nicotine on the other hand increases dopamine levels. Thus making you addicted to your brains own reward system.

Also, the soda companies are not secretly increasing the levels of caffeine in their products every year to make them more and more addictive. Whereas American tobacco companies have been increasing the nicotine yield of their products annually for some time. >.>

You're completely correct about junk food though. Its not that anything in candy or junk food is physically addicting, its that they're cheap, fast methods of pleasure. The cheap version of comfort food without any effort. People get addicted to the dopamine release in the anticipation and tasting of it, rather than anything in it. Someone with a sugar craving isn't craving sugar so much as sweet sweet brain chemicals.

Actually, the vast majority of everything is beneficial in the right doses and applications. That includes alcohol and tobacco (the latter is best used as a poultice, from what I've heard).

Caffeine is actually decent against some kinds of cancer and helps with Parkinson's.

As for tobacco, apparently it makes a great garden pest repellent and a decent poultice for burns, rashes, bruises, etc. Laws prevent nicotine from being used as an ingredient in medicinals though. Probably because people can and would attempt to smoke it. -.-

[Racket_Man]

But CVS doesn't sell alcohol anyway. At least, not the drinking kind.

Not necessarily true. maybe 6 years ago CVS bought out a lot of the Osco Drug stores in country. Now in the area I live Osco's DID have a nice liquior/wine/beer dept. just like a lot of Walgreens do. The store close to me still has the liquior dept.