CVS/Caremark recently announced all stores will stop carrying tobacco products by the end of the year. Their biggest competitor — Walgreens — wisely announced they will make no such move.
While it’s true that CVS stores carry primarily machine-made cigars — Backwoods, Dutch Masters, and the like — the real story here is one of principle.
In many areas, a full liquor store adjoins the existing drug store. As the war on tobacco widens, the political ‘blind eye’ toward alcohol increases. This is sheer hypocrisy, through and through.
It’s time to put an end to media stunts like this once and for all. You can’t sing the evils of one vice, whilst dedicating huge store space to another. Reviling tobacco is the “in” thing today, and CVS is simply the latest misguided company to jump on the bandwagon.
Perhaps the only silver lining here is the fact that budget-minded fans of machine-made cigars will simply find a nearby Walgreens, or (better yet!) visit their local tobacconist — a place where enjoying the still legal right of smoking is welcomed and appreciated.
The Layman's Cigar 