Cigarettes run counter to pharmacies’ primary role

On Dec. 8 ,the Gazette ran a front-page article on how pharmacists in New York state now have the authority and training to administer flu shots. This is wonderful news, since pharmacists are the most accessible health care providers in our community.

Now more than ever, this central role of pharmacies to provide health care is contrary to their practice of selling and displaying the deadliest product on the market today — tobacco. The United States is the only country in the world that still allows the sale of tobacco in pharmacies.

It is disturbing that according to a 2009 report, the top three violators of sales of tobacco to minors [in New York state] were pharmacies.
Tobacco products don’t belong in a place that exists primarily to promote health and well being. We need to join the rest of the developed world and end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies.

Theresa Cohen
Delmar