Retail pharmacies like CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreen are seeking to play a larger role in the U.S. health system by becoming more comprehensive health care providers with in store clinics, vaccination administration and other services.

They re collectively trying to capture a surge of newly insured Americans who are gaining coverage through the health care overhaul law, which is expected to expand insurance to 11 million to 13 million by the end of 2014.

The CVS initiative, the first major pharmacy to undertake such a ban, puts the bullseye on the back of Walgreen, the nation s largest pharmacy chain that has faced withering attacks from health and advocacy groups for years surrounding its policy of selling tobacco products.

Despite its more recent transformation into a more health care focused company, Walgreen has remained steadfast in its tobacco policy, arguing last year that it must continue to sell those products to stay competitive with other drug store chains, convenience stores and grocery stores.

Michael Polzin, a Walgreen spokesman, said Wednesday the company has been evaluating its tobacco line for “some time,” and said it “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 reduce the demand for tobacco products.”

Walgreen on Wednesday also announced a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to launch a free, Internet based smoking cessation program called Sponsorship to Quit.

The program will provide smokers with customized tools to track their progress in quitting smoking.

While Walgreen does not break out tobacco sales, the company last year cited the introduction of cigarette sales in dollar stores as a key contributor to a decline in its store traffic for its third quarter.

The $2 billion in annual sales CVS said it is giving up accounted for about 1.6 percent of the company s total revenue in 2012, the last year for which full year statistics are available.

The move drew praise from President Barack Obama, a former smoker, who said CVS “sets a powerful example that will have a profoundly positive impact on the health of our country.”

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CVS data by YCharts

Cdc – fact sheet – fast facts – smoking & tobacco use

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Diseases and DeathTobacco use leads to disease and disability.

  • Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases (including emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic airway obstruction), and diabetes.1
  • For every person who dies from a smoking related disease, about 30 more people suffer with at least one serious illness from smoking.1
  • More than 16 million Americans suffer from a disease caused by smoking.1

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death.

  • Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.2
  • Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including an estimated 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure.1 This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.1
  • On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.3
  • If smoking persists at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today s Americans younger than 18 years of age are projected to die prematurely from a smoking related illness. This represents about one in every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.1

Costs and ExpendituresThe tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year on cigarette advertising and promotions.4

  • $8.4 billion total spent in 2011
  • Almost $23 million spent every day in 2011

Tobacco use costs the United States billions of dollars each year, including 1

  • More than $289 billion a year, including at least $133 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity
  • $5.6 billion a year (2006 data) in lost productivity from exposure to secondhand smoke

State spending on tobacco prevention and control does not meet CDC recommended levels.1,5,6

  • Collectively, states have billions of dollars available to them from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco industry legal settlements for preventing and controlling tobacco use. States currently use a very small percentage of these funds for tobacco control programs.
  • In fiscal year 2014, states will collect $25.7 billion from tobacco taxes and legal settlements, but states will spend only 1.9% of the $25.7 billion on prevention and cessation programs.
  • No states currently fund tobacco control programs at CDC’s “recommended” level. Only two states (Alaska and North Dakota) fund tobacco control programs at the “minimum” level.
  • Investing less than 15% (i.e., $3.3 billion) of the $25.7 billion would fund every state tobacco control program at CDC recommended levels.

Cigarette Smoking in the United StatesPercentage of U.S. adults aged 18 years or older who were current cigarette smokers in 2012 7

  • 18.1% of all adults (42.1 million people) 20.1% of males, 14.5% of females
  • 21.8% of non Hispanic American Indians/Alaska Natives
  • 19.7% of non Hispanic Whites
  • 18.1% of non Hispanic Blacks
  • 12.5% of Hispanics
  • 10.7% of non Hispanic Asians (excluding Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders)
  • 26.1% of multiple race individuals

Notes

  • Current smokers are defined as persons who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes during their lifetime and who, at the time of interview, reported smoking every day or some days.

Thousands of young people start smoking cigarettes every day1

  • Each day, more than 3,200 persons younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette.
  • Each day, an estimated 2,100 youth and young adults who have been occasional smokers become daily cigarette smokers.

Many adult cigarette smokers want to quit smoking.

  • In 2011 1
    • 68.9% of adult smokers wanted to stop smoking
    • 42.7% had made a quit attempt in the past year

Notes

  • See CDC’s Smoking Cessation fact sheet for more information.
  • “Made a quit attempt” refers to smokers who reported that they stopped smoking for more than 1 day in the past 12 months because they were trying to quit smoking.

References

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking 50 Years of Progress A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .
  2. World Health Organization. WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011. Geneva World Health Organization, 2011 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .
  3. Jha P, Ramasundarahettige C, Landsman V, Rostron B, Thun M, Anderson RN, McAfee T, Peto R. 21st Century Hazards of Smoking and Benefits of Cessation in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine 2013 368 341 50 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .
  4. Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2011. PDF 325 KB Washington Federal Trade Commission, 2013 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs 2014. Atlanta U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .
  6. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Broken Promises to Our Children The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later. Washington Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 2013 accessed 2014 Feb 14 .

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E mail tobaccoinfo
Phone 1 800 CDC INFO

Media Inquiries Contact CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770 488 5493.