Blog#3
Matthew Beasley
America is pushing to de-normalize
tobacco and thus tobacco looks elsewhere for its chance to maintain
profits. Great news has come from CVS pharmacy, which has announced
that they are no longer going to carry cigarettes at their stores.
Finally even retailers are forgoing profit for the benefit of the
community. In the article it talks about how children that see
cigarettes in its stores, think that it is a normal behavior and thus
in a way retailers are supporting the continuation of cigarettes
smokers.(DUH comes to mind). It seems ironic to sell emphysema
medicine in the back and cigarettes in the front. The removal of
tobacco in 7600 nationwide stores is a great start that I hope other
retailers take a look at.
Elsewhere in the world like in the
Philippines, they have yet to be so strict on tobacco companies. The
government has enacted a “Sin tax law”(clever name) where they
impose a P25 tax on every pack sold. But then on the next line it
states that a pack of cigarettes is still only P50 or around P3 per
stick. This compared to Singapore where a pack costs P400 shows the
tobacco companies will lose money just to say in poor communities. I
guess it only natural for me to assume that the individuals growing
tobacco take the brunt of this economic impact not the companies that
produce the end product. People in poor places love to smoke,
because for many it is the number 1 way to alleviate hunger pangs.
It is so shocking to me that this seems to be a very common reason as
to why people smoke. Even in America, for example I remember my mom
used to always say when she was trying to quit smoking that every
time she did it she would start getting “fat”. I am not a smoker
and a little “chubby” so heck even that prospect appeals to me.
Thank goodness the stench of cigarettes has always turned me away
from them. I guess I am lucky one because over 70% of males over the
age of 15 in Indonesia smoke. It says that in south Asia alone there
are 10% of the worlds smokers. I also found it interesting that
groups seem to be fighting a losing battle at times because not only
is tobacco a billion dollar industry but even presidents of many
countries are smokers, so what chance is there of establishing much
change? If the main figure of your country smokes you can bet he or
she is likely not to change policy that would deny them their own
habits. Heck even our own President has reported his struggles to
try and stop smoking. World smoking is on the rise and still it
seems the target is the poor youth many of whom substitute food for a
smoke.
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_25072873/marin-medical-leaders-applaud-cvs-decision-stop-selling
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