“UNC’s Nicotine Dependence Program says “kudos” to CVS’s decision to eliminate tobacco sales in their stores. Time for Walgreen, Rite Aid, and all pharmacies to copy ‘Health over Profits’, said Adam Goldstein, MD MPH, when asked his opinion about CVS’s decision to eliminate tobacco sales in all of their stores nationwide.

CVS/Caremark announced recently that it will stop selling tobacco products starting October 1, 2014.

The pharmacy chain said selling cancer-causing products was incompatible with its overall mission of improving health, both through its pharmacies and its MinuteClinic walk-in primary care centers. The company will forgo $2 billion in annual tobacco sales by no longer carrying the number-one cause of preventable death.

Dr. Adam Goldstein is the Director of UNC Tobacco Programs and a family physician at UNC Family Medicine.