Blumenthal Statement on CVS Pharmacy's $50 Million Commitment to Combat Youth Smoking

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued the following statement on CVS Pharmacy’s announcement that it is making a $50 million, five-year commitment to fund new programming to reduce smoking among youth and young adults.

“In 18 short months, CVS has progressed from a pharmacy that sells tobacco products to a wellness company fighting for a tobacco-free generation. CVS rightly recognized the clear contradiction between keeping Americans healthy and selling tobacco, the country’s leading killer. I applaud its new initiative – which dedicates $50 million over five years to reducing smoking among young people – as yet another sign that CVS is paving the way for corporations to take meaningful action to improve our nation’s health. I urge other major pharmacies to follow CVS’s life-saving lead by committing to true wellness and removing deadly products like tobacco from their store shelves.”

When CVS announced it would stop all tobacco sales in 2014, Blumenthal and seven Senate colleagues called on other major pharmacies also to remove tobacco products from their store shelves.

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