Story 1: Hard News CVS

This angle will look at the background information on the issue, how the tobacco ban will be
implemented and the effect on the local area. It will also look at smokers reactions to the ban,
especially those who use CVS.
Fault lines: Geography, Gender, Class, Generation
Outline
-CVSs history
-Their past and present agendas
-CVSs official press release CVS Caremark to Stop Selling Tobacco at All CVS /
Pharmacy Locations provides insight as to why they decided to make this
decision, including commentary from the CEO and President of CVS.
-Their business model
-Interviewee Dr. David Ruggeri gives insight to CVSs business model, which is
advocating for public health improvement as well as being an all in one health
clinic, and how this influenced their decision to enact the tobacco ban.
-Consumers
-The opinion article CVS insults its own customers: Opposing view gives a different
perspective on the ban, focusing on consumers who smoke. The article also brings up
the question: CVS may claim its intention is to promote better health among its
customers, but why continue to sell [alcohol and junk food] that are also claimed to be
unhealthy?
- The article CVS Stops selling tobacco, offers quit-smoking programs supplements this
story with additional information on the impact it will have on consumers (more
specifically smokers). This includes a study showing the direct effect CVSs decision has
made on its consumers.
-Interviewees Alex Smith Amanda Kyle discuss CVSs copay, which only allows customers
to get their prescriptions at CVS. If they go to get their prescription at a place that sells
tobacco products, there is a $15 charge or co-pay. Kyle says, This allows CVS to control
where, when, and how much you buy from anywhere else but CVS.
-Context of their decision
-National and Global effects
-CVS is the first major pharmaceutical chain to ban tobacco products from their
shelves. This reflects the idea that smoking is becoming increasingly obsolete,
and society has created an agenda for consumers to quit smoking.
Sources
CVS Caremark to Stop Selling Tobacco at All CVS/pharmacy Locations."
CVS Health Home. CVS Caremark, 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Oct.2014.
Kuneman, David W., and Jan Johnson. "CVS insults its own customers: Opposing view."
USA Today [Tyson's Corner] 5 Feb. 2014, sec. Editorials: n. pag. USA Today. Web. 16 Oct.
2014.
O'Donnell, Jayne, and Laura Ungar. "CVS stops selling tobacco, offers quit-smoking programs."
USA Today [Tyson's Corner] 3 Sept.2014: n. pag. USA Today. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

Story 2: Economic Impact

The second story would look at the issue from a financial angle, including how the company
would be affected, how it could make up potential profit losses and how the decision might
affect competitors.
Fault lines: Generation, Geography
Outline
-Initial effect on CVS
-Business model (public health improvement)
-Profit losses and future effect on CVS
-Interviewee Dr. David Ruggeri provides information about CVS and how their decision
will affect their initial profit losses as well as their profit projections in the future. They
will initially lose about $2 billion in tobacco sales and $500 million in other sales, but, in
the long run, it is a good decision due to the declining number of smokers in society.
-Competitors
-Target (They stopped selling tobacco products over ten years ago)
-This archived article from 1996, Target Chain, Citing Costs, to Stop Selling
Cigarettes explains why Target stopped selling tobacco products almost 20
years ago. It was an economic decision. They were failing federal regulation
standards and the opportunity cost of keeping them on the shelves outweighed
the small profit margin they were making on tobacco products.
-The article Why Walgreens Wont Stop Selling Tobacco like CVS Health provides
information as to how Walgreens is reacting to CVSs decision and why they decided to
keep selling tobacco products.
-Interviewee Dr. David Ruggeri -Then [Walgreens is] probably going to
reevaluate and make a decision. CVS could be wrong, I don't think so, but this
could back fire on them. It could be a mistake. It's one that they can't undo...
even if they do hit these losses... and lose more money they can't now start
selling cigarettes again, they'll just recuperate their loss. If CVS does see
some bumps in the next couple years, then Walgreens will follow suit.
-Interviewees Alex Smith and Amanda Kyle
-CVSs copay controls how consumers will shop. Kyle: Smokers have to plan out
when and where they get their tobacco from, so it is important to place near a
heavily trafficked area.
Sources
Feder, Barnaby J. "Target Chain, Citing Costs, to Stop Selling Cigarettes." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 28 Aug. 1996. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.
Japsen, Bruce. "Why Walgreen Won't Stop Selling Tobacco Like CVS Health." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

Story 3: Personal connections

The third and last story would look the personal connection angle and examine how smoking fits
into an increasingly health-conscious world, especially from former smokers and those with
close relatives. It will also examine where to draw the line as far as what corporations and
businesses can regulate when it comes to health decisions for the public.
Fault lines: Generation, Geography
Outline
-History of Smoking in American Society
-The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions page titled History of the Surgeon
General's Reports on Smoking and Health provides helpful background information on
the tobacco use on Americans. The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of
1965 and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969 were laws created early on to
require health warnings on cigarettes, ban cigarette advertising in broadcasting, and
reports on health consequences of smoking. It also dives into other laws created to
inform the general public about smoking and provides statistics on those affected by
smoking.
-Smoking in an increasingly health-conscious world
-Interviewee Bridgette Selby provides information on smoking in different geographical
parts of the country, more specifically California and Missouri. Missouri is more lenient
on smoking laws than California, so more people smoke in Missouri than in California.
- Interviewee Evan Heitman provides a first hand account on what it is like to be a
smoker in todays society and the consequences of being a smoker. He currently utilizes
e-cigarettes, a common trend in this generation.
- Interviewee Margaret Jasinkski gives insight to the smoke-free initiative on the
University of Missouris campus. She works at the Student Health Wellness Center.
Health coaching on campus has decreased smoking among students over the years and
she provides another aspect to how smokers are affected in different health conscious
environments. The University of Missouri is one of many college campuses to promote
programs that help prevent students from smoking.
-Health effects
-Interviewee Dr. Thomas B. Shaw believes that there should be a ban on tobacco, and it
is far worse for you compared to other unhealthy products.
-On Cancer.nets Lung Cancer: Statistics page, it provides general information about
people who get this type of cancer and survival information. Many people who smoke
for a large portion of their life can get lung cancer. It is one of the many negative health
effects of smoking.
-The American Lung Associations page on Lung Cancer also provides more
information about this type of cancer.
-Adult Cigarette Smoking in the United States: Current Estimates provides quick facts
about the number of people who smoke in the United States as well as statistics relating
to diseases caused by smoking.
-Regulation
-Interviewee David Kuneman says I think eventually as more and more of the white
collar people in this country quit smoking, they (government) started feeling that
everyone should quit smoking and our whole approach to medicine nowadays is try to
prevent people from doing things that could hurt themselves and have a consequence

cost to society in terms of medical cost. When you can demonstrate after 50 years of
war on smoking that this hasn't made us any healthier, then enough is enough and
personal freedom becomes more important.
-Interviewee Dr. Thomas B. Shaw brings up the question: Where do we draw the line
between personal freedom and outside interference to improve public health?
-Of course though thats the purpose of your thing is how far do you go with
that. Are we free? Do we have freedom? A company thats essentially tricking
people into being addicted to something
-Interviewee Dr. David Ruggeri discusses some of the regulations enacted to promote
public health in regards to different geographical regions of the country, including the
East coast and the Midwest. New York City, for example, has high taxes on tobacco
products due to officials political platforms promoting public health. Missouri is one of
the cheapest states to smoke in because we have low excise taxes on tobacco products.
Sources
Borio, Gene. "History Net- The History of Tobacco Part 1 (to1676)." History Net- The History of
Tobacco Part 1 (to 1676). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
"History of the Surgeon General's Reports on Smoking and Health."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
06 July 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Miller, Robert. Lung Cancer: Statistics. Cancer.Net. American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Adult Cigarette Smoking. "Adult Cigarette Smoking in the United States: Current Estimates."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
14 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.