http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/index.html
Heart disease kills the most people in the US of any disease. Stroke is not far behind. All together, heart disease is responsible for 1 of every 4 deaths in the country. Million Hearts® is a national initiative that has set an ambitious goal to prevention 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. The impact will be even greater over time. Tobacco use plays a big part in the development of heart disease, so getting people to give up smoking is paramount to this initiative.
The recent decision by CVS/Caremark to not sell tobacco was a landmark one for this drugstore chain. Tobacco is big business and they will surely take a huge revenue loss for this decision. However, considering the part that tobacco plays in the development of heart disease, it is an important decision.
It will be interesting to see if other drug stores follow suit..