Altruism

[Bazile]

Is this a sincere case of Altruism , that's caused this damascene moment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26051519

I dont suppose a loss of $1.22bn revenue against sales of $125bn will be an unsustainable dent on the balance sheets .

One has to ask though, what was a company providing services of the nature described , doing selling tobbaco products , in the first place ?

[pixie373]

No. I don't believe in altruism. At best it's good publicity, at worst, controlling and moralising.

[FredPuli43]

Probably they always had sold tobacco products, a practice dating from days when taking tobacco or smoking it were not regarded as dangerous. Old habits die hard, for smokers and retailers !

[Zeuhl]

/One has to ask though, what was a company providing services of the nature described , doing selling tobbaco products , in the first place ? /

Well, it is a 'Drugstore' :-)

[Bazile]

The dangers of tobbaco products have been known for decades now - so i dont think it's a case of old habits die hard , with respect to the company - rather , a case of providing a nice divident to shareholders

[Bazile]

Zeuhl

I wonder if they sell coffee there as well

[Zeuhl]

probably bazile LOL

and what about E-Cigarettes? Is it ok for a pharmacy to get people hooked on that form of nicotine?

The product range of American 'Drugstores' has always been much wider than the European concept of a pharmacy or chemist.

Perhaps a merger for Boots, Costa and Baskin Robbins?

[rockyracoon]

A smart move and it seems win, win for them. A loss of about $2bn a year out of $125b in a market that in all liklihood will fall year after year with people giving up, youngsters being disinclined to smoke plus future anti tobacco legislation.

[FredPuli43]

It's certainly good for the image. And what's the betting that cigarette sales have declined over the years, so the income from that source has shrunk ?

[Zeuhl]

Indeed..

much better to feed the lucrative (and growing) addiction to nicotine in the form of gum, patches, sprays and e-cigs

[ummmm]

Nicotine isn't as harmful as tobacco. I watched something on TV where a doctor was saying (I think Hilery Jones) that Nicotine is about as harmful as caffeine.

[Zeuhl]

That's right ummm

But it is much more chemically addictive than caffeine.

so switching someone from tobacco to nicotine is probably a good thing

But what about hooking a non-smoker (or occasional smoker) onto nicotine products?

It's an interesting moral issue

[modeller]

Fred I think smoking , chewing, sniffing of any sort of weed , opium, tobacco, snuff , herbal etc. have always been considered of some danger. It was the connection with lung cancer that caused it to hit the headlines.
When I was a child before the war I remember being given 2 or 3 pence to go to the shop and say " A packet of coffin nails please !" and the shopkeeper would give me a packet of Woodbines or Players Weights .
People didn't know much about lung cancer but they did know about mouth cancer severe bronchitis and the term Smoker's Cough was in common parlance.

[ummmm]

I can't imagine a non smoker being interested in such products....I mean, most smokers aren't ;-)

[Zeuhl]

ummm - probably not :-)

perhaps they need to be nicer flavours to attract the youngsters - like alcopops

[pixie373]

No, i can't see non-smokers slapping patches on either. The point with the nicotine replacement is that you don't get the hit.

[ummmm]

They already do!!

In fairness though, it's better to be addicted to replacements than it is to cigarettes. Much cheaper, too.

[jno]

they're much more than just a pharmacy - similar to Boots but shops the size of supermarkets. But a 1% fall in profits will hit them as it hits anyone who works to fairly tight profit margins; and it may drive shoppers to rival stores. So yes, they've done the right thing, good for them

[Zeuhl]

Sorry - I've just realised i was being vague...

it was e-cigs i had in mind more than any other form

I was imagining gangs of youngsters hooked on them as they are 'healthy' and allowed indoors.

[mccfluff]

i know people who didn't used to smoke who now "vape" as its the trendy thing to do in some circles

its better than smoking tobacco but its still leading to a nicotine addiction, not sure about that

[rockyracoon]

Fluff, I went round a friends house a few weeks ago and her 20 year old daughter was there with half a dozen friends getting ready to go out, they were all chuffing on those vape things yet none of them smoked baccy! The mind boggles.