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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 73
BY REPRESENTATIVE HOFFMANN AND SENATOR THOMPSON
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To commend CVS Caremark and Louisiana independent community pharmacies for their
efforts towards reducing the rate of chronic illness associated with tobacco use by
making the decision not to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products in support of
the health and well-being of their customers.
WHEREAS, in 2012, more than forty-two million people in the United States, or
almost twenty percent of adults, were current smokers; and
WHEREAS, more than sixteen million people in the United States have at least one
serious illness caused by smoking; and
WHEREAS, smoking kills more than four hundred eighty thousand Americans each
year, representing more deaths from AIDS, alcohol, automobile accidents, murders, suicides,
drugs, and fires combined; and
WHEREAS, smoking in pregnancy accounts for an estimated twenty to thirty percent
of low-birth weight babies, up to fourteen percent of preterm deliveries, and ten percent of
all infant deaths; and
WHEREAS, each day in the United States, approximately four thousand adolescents
between the ages of twelve and seventeen try their first cigarette; and
WHEREAS, if current patterns of smoking behaviors continue, an estimated six
million four hundred thousand of today's children can be expected to die prematurely from
a smoking-related illness; and
WHEREAS, tobacco advertising plays an important role in encouraging young
people to begin a lifelong addiction to smoking before they are old enough to fully
understand its long-term health risk; and
WHEREAS, as small business entrepreneurships, independent community
pharmacies are dynamic, multidimensional healthcare providers who play a critical role in
Louisiana's healthcare delivery system; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 73
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WHEREAS, with a strong foundation in its communities, independent community
pharmacies lead grass roots public health, civic, and volunteer initiatives and, as such,
represent a vital resource; and
WHEREAS, some Louisiana independent community pharmacies have made the
decision not to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products in support of the health and well-
being of their customers; and
WHEREAS, CVS Caremark has announced that it will stop selling cigarettes and
other tobacco products at its more than seven thousand six hundred pharmacy stores across
the United States by October 1, 2014, making CVS Caremark the first national pharmacy
chain to take this step; and
WHEREAS, the decision of a pharmacy to stop selling tobacco products is consistent
with the positions taken by the American Medical Association, American Heart Association,
American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and American Pharmacists
Association that have all publicly opposed tobacco sales in retail outlets with pharmacies.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
commend CVS Caremark and Louisiana independent community pharmacies for their efforts
towards reducing the rate of chronic illness associated with tobacco use by making the
decision not to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products in support of the health and well-
being of their customers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the president and chief executive officer of CVS Caremark and the chairman of the board
of directors of the Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE