APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D., today reacted to the news that national drugstore chain CVS has stopped selling tobacco products a month earlier than it had previously announced it would. “We applaud CVS for its continued leadership on the vital public-health issue of tobacco use," said Summergrad. "Research has shown that people with a mental illness smoke at nearly twice the rate of the general public. In fact, about half of the cigarettes smoked in the United States are used by people with psychiatric or addictive disorders. Psychiatrists are committed to helping our patients stop smoking, but it takes a whole community to stamp out the problem, and we urge retailers to follow CVS’s lead.” CVS Caremark, the parent company of the drugstore chain, announced on February 5 that it would stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 pharmacy locations nationwide by October 1. "Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is the right thing for us to do for our customers and our company to help people on their path to better health,” said the company's president and CEO Larry Merlo.Click here for information APA has posted on its website to assist psychiatrists in helping patients who want to stop smoking and to view a video of APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., discussing the topic.(image: Dora Zett/Shutterstock)
