NC Tobacco Not Worried

While consumers may not be stubbing out cigarettes purchased from CVS any longer, the North Carolina tobacco industry doesn't see sales flaming out either.

On Wednesday, CVS Caremark announced that it would stop selling cigarettes by October 1st in 7,600 stores nationwide, including 210 in North Carolina. Yet tobacco producers and companies in North Carolina are not too concerned with the move.

David P. Howard, a spokesman for the historical tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Winston Salem, North Carolina, commented on the value of the companies relationship with CVS and added that they respect CVS's decision. While respectful, Howard also subtly expressed doubt that the change would make any real effect: out of all the cigarettes sold in 2012, only 3.6 percent were sold at pharmacies as compared to 48 percent at gas stations.

Although CVS has chosen to stop selling cigarettes, I also doubt this move will have any real affect on industry sales as a whole. Tobacco production and consumption has declined in recent years with the nation's health kick, yet it still remains a large industry in North Carolina and will continue to be so.

North Carolina produces more than 80 percent of the nation's tobacco annually, said William Collins. a retired N.C. State University extension specialist. Pharmacies, only responsible for 3.6 percent of tobacco sales, will make little dent in this enormous industry.

Yet CVS's decision may be marginalized for other reasons as well. CVS may be one of the first national pharmacies to stop selling tobacco products, yet I've personally seen this trend in consumers prior to the announcement. Consumers now associate pharmacies with health and well-being, not a source of vice products. CVS is the place to get a prescription filled or buy an ace bandage, not a pack of Camels. 

CVS's decision may seem like a milestone, but its more of a publicity stunt. Americans are going to continue buying cigarettes every day, gas stations may just dominate 51.6 percent of the market instead of 48 percent now. Tobacco fields like the one below will continue to color the North Carolina landscape for years to come.

-Det Beal

Sources: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/05/4666465/nc-tobacco-industry-shrugs-at.html#.UvP1cnllNU1

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