CVS-CAREMARK PHARMACIES ANNOUNCES BAN OF CIGARETTE AND TOBACCO SALES FROM THEIR STORES NATIONWIDE..............

A trailblazing announcement was made today by the American national chain store CVS Pharmacies, declaring the removal and ban on Tobacco products from their sales inventory. CVS-Caremark is the second largest drug store chain in the United States, with 7,600 pharmacies nationwide.  The move will remove cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco, from all their stores by October 1st of this year.  CVS annually sells $1.5 billion in tobacco products and the ban is projected to cost them $2 billion.  In a statement announcing the decision to ban tobacco sales CVS-Caremark  spokesmen said by doing so they will be,"better able to focus on health care".  What impact CVS' tobacco ban will have on Walgreen's, Rite Aid, and other national drug store chains and whether they will follow suit, now becomes a primary question..............fr.tdp