I hate smoking but sorry, even THIS is ridiculous - Boston to ban selling cigs in Pharmacies

[LynneSin]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/08/eveningnews/main4784060.shtml

(CBS) Boston will become the nation’s second city to ban the sale of cigarettes by pharmacies on Monday, as new rules approved by the city’s public health commission take effect.


____________________________________________

Sorry, that's just wrong for one reason only. These pharmacies are just like any other business and they are struggling to keep afloat financially. By banning the cell of cigarettes from their store you're going to make a major impact in sales. And when the smokers go elsewhere to buy their smokes that also takes away 'extra' purchases - like picking up a beverage to drink, gum to chew or something to snack on.

You don't have to be a die-hard smoker to see this is totally ridiculous!

[greyghost]

1. Agreed, the anti-smoking zealots have been over reaching for

quite awhile. It's past time to rein them in.

[nxylas]

2. Only in America would cigarettes be sold in pharmacies

And yet pharmacy chains in other countries seem to survive.

[peace13]

5. Weird comment and I'm not a smoker.

Let's ban gas stations from selling coffee and donuts, they just don't do that in Europe ya know. Who cares what other countries sell in their pharmacies?

[On the Road]

28. Or...Perhaps They Might be Sold in France:

or Spain:



and Mr. Butts sometimes visits Portugese pharmacies:

[peace13]

3. Better ban candy and pop! Obesity kills!

And Viagra...some poor fools die from taking that!

[Dreamer Tatum]

4. At least they don't stink up the joint while they do it nt

[peace13]

7. They don't smoke in the pharmacy for gods sake.

They sell rubbers in the pharmacy but ya don't see 'um *ucking in the isle do you? Hey I don't smoke but I don't think we can tell people that it is illegal to do so. Call me American!

[Upton]

16. No doubt many of them light up right outside

would should anyone have to navigate through a haze of secondhand smoke to retrieve a prescription?

[LynneSin]

19. that does annoy the bejesus out of me

Although normally it's not the customer but the kids that work at the store. I appreciate these folks need a smoke break but could they stand somewhere OTHER than right by the enterance to the store. Not my problem some idiot kid decided to take up smoking and it's like 10 degrees out.

Speaking of kids, my nephew (19) tried smoking. Other kids at work were doing it so he wanted to fit in. He said first time he had to take a smoke break and it was freezing cold out made him realize what a stupid habit it was. He has since given it up.

[tabbycat31]

26. I used to work for a chain pharmacy

and I learned more about cigarettes then than I ever wanted to know.

Another thing that was completely unfair. We got an hour's worth of break time for an 8 hour shift. If you were a smoker, you were allowed additional cigarette breaks on top of your break time that non-smokers did not get. I complained to my boss about it and he told me to take up smoking (this was when my stepgrandmother was dying of lung cancer from smoking).

[NorCalDem]

37. so ask them kindly to move? n/t

[Upton]

65. It is the nicotine addicts exposing others to carcinigens

they shouldn't have to be asked to move....they should take their hazardous nasty habit to their own home behind closed doors or bans will be put in place.

[NorCalDem]

72. Ahh, i see you try and use the "asshole approach"...

when dealing with smokers.

You're the type of person I would purposefully blow smoke rings at after they rudely fake-coughed or scowled back when I used to smoke.

Edited to add: Oh, you're little diatribe about taking our nasty habit behind closed doors or bans will be enforced, you sound JUST LIKE a Republican. Prohibition works, you and damn sure intend to prove it!

[Upton]

75. You're forgetting one thing

smoking bans in one form or another have already been put in place in a number of states. Here in Wa. no smoking is allowed within 25 ft of any public establishment, that includes pharmacies.

BTW, the rudeness that you suggest is often exhibited by smokers, which is why such bans are needed to begin with. Certainly, you have a right to kill yourself but you don't have a right to endanger the health of others.

[NorCalDem]

76. ...

"BTW, the rudeness that you suggest is often exhibited by smokers, which is why such bans are needed to begin with."
Rude smokers are a by product of being ostracized. The further they push smokers away from the door and more obnoxious anti-smokers get about it, the ruder smokers become.

"Certainly, you have a right to kill yourself but you don't have a right to endanger the health of others. "

Great, I can't wait until they ban alcohol again. And i won't hold my breath waiting for those ZERO EMISSION cars to come out either.
Prohibition works, and you people are intent to prove it!

Edited to add: even when I smoked I supported bans in bars/restaurants and having to be 20+ft. from a door to smoke. I WAS/AM OKAY with that, as are most smokers. But we can STILL be 30ft. from a damn door and half the people coming out of it will make some stupid fake-cough gesture or wave their hand in front of their face. I always wonder if they do that constantly when walking down the sidewalk, seeing as how exhaust from neighboring vehicles is a million times worse for them than 2nd hand smoke from a person 30 ft. away...

When are they going to make buses illegal too?

[Dreamer Tatum]

18. That breeze you felt was the point, rushing by you

I don't care where people smoke. I just care that they smell like shit whenever and wherever they do.

People who eat junk food sold in pharmacies tend to be less offensive to my nose.

[ejpoeta]

6. just wait. it's coming.

[Upton]

8. Sounds good to me

pharmacies are looking out for and promoting the health of individuals....cigarettes do just the opposite. Have the nicotine addicts get their cancer fix somewhere else.

[peace13]

14. Pharmacies are not looking out for the health of people.

They are in business to make money. If they were looking out for the health of the people they would not have half of their inventory in there. Wow, I hope you don't drink alcohol or drink pop or eat meat or drive a car or use laundry soap because if you do you are a dirty polluter and need to be fined. What are we in prison? Get busy you have a long run to complete the upgrades on this prison camp called America!

[Mojorabbit]

15. No way

pharmacies are businesses that sell just about everything along with rx. I can buy milk and canned hams at most for cripes sake along with a huge assortment of candy.

[Upton]

20. Perhaps they should sell alcohol in pharmacies too

would you be okay with that?

[Mojorabbit]

22. I can buy beer

at my local pharmacy and I am fine with that.

[bain_sidhe]

23. Uh. They do.

all of the pharmacies within easy driving distance of my house sell alcohol.

Which I believe reinforces the point of the post you're responding to. Just because they sell healthy things doesn't mean that they're selling them for your health. They're not. They're selling them because they can make money on them, and they'll sell (and should be able to sell) any legal product that they can make money on.

[NorCalDem]

34. I already can by beer there?

This ban is retarded and anyone who agrees with it should not be considered a progressive.

[dionysus]

45. why the hell not?

sorry, but you are a joke.
:shrug:

[NorCalDem]

48. wrongful spamming

my bad :)

[dionysus]

54. who, me? i believe we are in agreement?

i was not responding to you, are you confused?

[NorCalDem]

56. yeah, my bad :)

clicked the wrong thread reponse :) my bad, carry on!

[dionysus]

57. our grocery stores stopped selling tobacco. i would say thats it's ridiculous,

but they charged way more than the gas station anyways...

[NorCalDem]

59. well, i can see grocery stores stopping, but only because

they can't match the prices of corner stores and pharmacies, hence they probably don't sell alot :) When i used to smoke, i only bought at grocery stores in emergencies :)

[NeedleCast]

63. Plus, the grocery chains I shop at have made getting cigarettes

pretty much impossible. You cant just pick up a pack of smokes anymore. Gotta ask the check out dude or lady for them, have them track down a manager with a key to the dreaded cigarette locker, etc. etc.

[NeedleCast]

31. I just went to a CVS today to get some cough medicine

My local CVS currently has two full isles dedicated to candy, one isle for chips and nuts, one isle for soft drinks (plus the coolers) and has lots of end caps and bargain bins full of V-day candy.

Less than 30% of their retail spaced is used for the selling of medicines, drugs and other health related products.

[NorCalDem]

36. hahaha, yeah right. n/t

[progdonkey]

9. yeah, I'm very anti-smoking...

But this just seems way too much. I get that they shouldn't be selling cigarettes because they're harmful to the person's health, and they're dispensing medicine, but will they still be selling potato chips loaded with saturated and trans fats? (for instance)

My problem with smoking is that it affects everyone around the non-smoker, but if someone wants to sell a legal product to a legal costumer, I've got no problem with that. Just because they also sell products that are the exact opposite health-wise shouldn't be a factor. (It's ironically schizophrenic, but not something the government should be getting involved in.)

You can kill yourself with cigarettes in your home if you want, just don't smoke that shit anywhere around me or my family.

[angrycarpenter]

10. Most expensive place in town to buy cigs.

They cost at least 50 cents more at a drug store than anywhere else. I can see a mom and pop drug store being hurt by this but most of them are corporate franchises these days and they couldn't care less. The markup on generic drugs alone is profit enough.

[LynneSin]

11. Walgreen sells their generics at $10 for a 3 month supply - where is the markup there

:shrug:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. CVS and Rite Aid sell them for much less than anyone else here.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. The NEED to stop selling cigarettes -

and start selling medical marijuana.

[Winterblues]

13. I don't understand why hospitals don't sell tobacco as well.

You would think it would be good for business. :shrug:

[LynneSin]

17. Well perhaps they can sell junk food a sugary drinks like the Pharmacies do

:eyes:

[peace13]

24. They do! nm

[Stevenmarc]

21. Do we even have pharmacies anymore, they are mini marts with a side of drugs

[Occam Bandage]

25. Really, I don't think "oh, think of the poor pharmacies" is a good argument.

The purpose of these bills is to discourage smokers from purchasing cigarettes, period. However, it does not decrease the amount of money smokers have. If a smoker decides to purchase an equal number of cigarettes as he otherwise would have, he will purchase them from a different location, and will likely make the same number of add-on purchases he would otherwise have. I don't think that chain pharmacies are, say, "more struggling" than gas stations or corner stores are.

If a smoker ends up purchasing fewer cigarettes than he otherwise would have, then the public-health component has been fulfilled; any anti-smoking campaign is designed to induce people to purchase fewer cigarettes. It is not economic disaster, though, for the smoker now has more money than he otherwise would have, and can spend that on any number of non-tobacco goods and services, supporting and sustaining industries that do not kill a third of their customers.

[dkofos]

27. They can switch to electronic cigarettes.

[NeedleCast]

29. The Ban Brigade has almost reached their final goal regarding smoking

[NorCalDem]

35. I hate these people, and I don't even smoke.

NIMBY mother fuckers, every last one of them.

[NeedleCast]

40. Yup

I don't smoke either...well, I might smoke a pack a year because I occasionally bum a smoke off a friend at a bar or something.

I'm always shocked (but I guess I shouldn't be) when progressives support taking choice away from adults.

[NorCalDem]

46. I hate them cause I USED to smoke

and I learned that these anti-smoking people (like some rearing their ugly heads in this thread) are THE MOST INTOLERANT, obnoxious mother fuckers out there.

[NeedleCast]

53. They also fail to recognize irony

As I'm sure plenty of them will leave work today and head to a bar to enjoy a beverage or stop off at McDonalds on the way home...all the while telling other people that their bad habits should be legistlated into criminality.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

32. Well, it's a start...

Now to get them banned from every store, everywhere!!! And yes, this is personal - I've watched enough family die from smoking related diseases to ever have sympathy for anyone who stands up for the tobacco death industry.

[NorCalDem]

44. Prohibition works! AND YOU INTEND TO PROVE IT!! n/t

[ComtesseDeSpair]

47. No, I'm anti-prohibition. Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.

I'm pro protecting stupid people from poisoning not only themselves, but everyone around them too. And lowering health care costs for EVERYONE in the process.

[Alexander]

49. Have you thought about the black market that will be created?

Gang violence, shootings, armed robberies, etc. all for cigarettes.

:eyes:

Another thought I had - making cigarettes illegal would make our president a criminal.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

58. Oh, so we should allow people to eat peanut butter with salmonella too?

Explain to me one reason why a poison should be allowed to be sold to people, when there is huge evidence that there is no beneficial quality to it, and tons of evidence that it destroys people's lives? Only the tobacco industry could get away with this. Now, I'm all for legalizing marijuana - it at least has healthful qualities and makes people feel good (well, some people, but not me - I'm immune) - but tobacco does nothing except hurt people in every way. Why apologize for the tobacco companies, who have been making enormous profits off death for years?

[Alexander]

64. Thanks for not answering my question.

You realize banning cigarettes would just create a black market, right? Or are you more concerned with your own hysteria?

:eyes:

[Alexander]

78. No response? You ran away from this discussion like a coward.

[NeedleCast]

51. I don't think the word anti means what you think it means..

You are pro-prohibition as far as smoking goes. You may be anti-prohibition on other products, but that just means you're a hypocrite as you have decided that there are only certain items that you deem to be inappropriate. You further that sentiment by using a broad brush to claim that smokers are stupid people when in fact most smokers are well aware that smoking is bad for them and they do it anyway.

Essentially you're a typical member of the Ban Brigade in that you don't realize you're standing on a slippery slope as you try to ban one persons vice while claiming your own is okay.

[Alexander]

66. Maybe "anti"-sanity, if nothing else.

[NorCalDem]

52. ...

To quote YOU:

"Now to get them banned from every store, everywhere!!!"

Yep, totally sounds like you're anti-prohibition. :eyes:

[bain_sidhe]

69. If "lowering health care costs" is the goal...

then you'd better be pro-banning candy (not to mention fatty foods and other nutritionally-sparse foods) too, because obesity costs the health system more than smoking does. Look it up.

Oh, hell, I'll even do it *for* you:

http://www.karlloren.com/diet/p69.htm

And here's a nifty little graph that goes along with it.



***
edited to add link to original study:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB4549/index1.html
***

BTW, this message comes to you from an ex-smoker. I hated the smoking-nazis when I did smoke, I still hate them now that I don't. For me it's not about smoking, it's about the choice to engage in a legal activity. I'm pro-choice on abortion, guns, smoking (not to mention sky-diving, extreme snow-boarding drag racing, and a whole host of other dangerous things... for OTHER people, not me!)

[NeedleCast]

70. I'm doing my part to lower health care costs

I stopped aging at 35...

[bain_sidhe]

73. OOh! Good plan!

I'll have to try that! I am also doing my part to bring down health care costs... not only did I quit smoking, I also am trying to eat healthier to lower my cholesterol. And avoiding sweet/fat snacks like the plague, because I just *know* if I let that kind of stuff replace smoking, I'll be obese in no time, instead of just a tad overweight...

[NorCalDem]

33. Anti-smoking fascists crack me up.

Several have popped up in this thread! :whine: "but 2nd hand smoke kills!11!!!1!" :whine:

Oh go fuck yourselves. Grow up and learn to be an adult and let other adults do what they want. If you are against smoking that much, THEN LOBBY TO MAKE TOBACCO, ALL TOBACCO ILLEGAL!!! Prohibition works, and by god you people intend to prove it!!!

[NeedleCast]

42. The sooner, the better

As a resident of Virginia who's grown tobacco in his little garden and cured it in his garage, I can't wait to start collecting profits from cigarette prohibition! Curing tobacco in my garage is more of a pain in the ass than buying a pack of smokes (although I don't remember the last time I did that) but if it becomes a profitable pain in the ass, it's totally worth it.

Senor NeedleCast - the tobacco king of Falls Church.

[taterguy]

38. People will just drive somewhere else to get their smokes

So much for keeping the air pristine and pure

[WI_DEM]

39. Actually banning the selling of cigs in places which are supposed to promote health care makes sense

[NeedleCast]

61. Which pharmacies still promote health care?

There might be some local-non chains that do, but even those often sell a variety of sodas, chips and candies. This isn't even anything new. Back in my grandfather's day, the pharmacy was where they went to get malted milk-shakes and taffy.

[Taverner]

41. Stupid law - HOWEVER - Who thought up the idea of selling cigs in pharmacies in the first place?

[NeedleCast]

43. Pharmacies...

[madinmaryland]

50. I always found it ironic that pharmacies would sell beer and cigarettes!

Of course, I'm sure big pharma and their shills are happy they do, so that they have customers to buy their other drugs later in life.

:hide:

[NorCalDem]

55. Big Pharma HAD LITTLE to do with the selling...

of alcohol and tobacco as CVS, etc. Why would the pharmacies sell them? CAUSE THEY MAKE A SHIT TON OF PROFIT FROM THOSE GOODS. Big pharma or big tobacco isn't forcing CVS to sell cigs, CVS IS FORCING CVS TO SELL CIGS FOR A PROFIT!

[BR_Parkway]

60. When are they going to ban cars? If my 2nd hand smoke is so

damned toxic and dangerous, how come someone's car, spewing 100+ times as much are safe for all?

[NeedleCast]

62. It's coming

There's already a segment of the ban brigade trying to do that, they're just a much smaller voice than anti smoking is right now.

Hell, as far as banning things goes, banning cars would be a much healthier choice than banning cigs.

Plus, as far as the government is concerned, it's a much better idea to let cigarettes stick around and tax the shit out of them. Banning cigarettes = expensive and causes a black market. Taxing the shit out of cigarettes = more tax money! Which do you think the gov will choose?

[Canuckistanian]

67. Here in Canada, pharmacies have been forbidden to sell tobacco for years

In fact, Imasco, the parent company of Shopper's Drug Mart (the largest pharmacy chain in Canada) voluntarily pulled cigarettes off their shelves even BEFORE the ban.

We sensible Canadians thought it was a good idea that pharmacies shouldn't be selling both the harmful substance and the drugs used to treat it at the same time. Nobody protested.

Now, about that junk food......

[HughMoran]

68. Watched the report sitting in Boston with my family

Nobody batted an eyelash...

[NorCalDem]

71. Just wait 'til they come around trying to ban Sam Adams... n/t

[HughMoran]

74. Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Lol. Perhaps as former smokers (myself included), I've lost the will to fight for smokers rights.

[NorCalDem]

77. All these anti-smoking people need to ask themselves one question...

do they want tobacco to be another illegal drug? For that matter, tobacco AND alcohol should be 100% ILLEGAL drugs.

If that's the society they want to live in, fine by me, move somewhere else. In OUR FREE AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY we don't roll like that.