Tobacco-free pharmacy
Outside the United States, it is illegal in countries such as in France[2] and most of Canada for pharmacy stores to sell cigarettes and similar products on the same premises as over-the-counter drugs and prescription medication.
Some pharmaceutical retailers counter this argument by reasoning that by selling tobacco, they are more readily able to offer to customers advice and products for quitting smoking.
Around 1560, Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Lisbon, popularised the use of tobacco leaves as a cure for carcinoma and ringworm in the court of King Francis II of France.
[3] In 17th-century France, the leaves of the tobacco plant were thought to have wide-ranging medicinal properties and physicians used it to treat bubonic plague, asthma, cancer, migraine and for pain relief during childbirth.
[5] The ordinance was introduced on April 29, 2008 by Mayor Gavin Newsom, passed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on July 17, 2008, by a vote of 8-3, and took effect on October 1, 2008.
[1] On September 24, 2008, just before the tobacco-free pharmacy ordinance was to take effect, Philip Morris USA, Inc. filed suit against the City and County of San Francisco in United States District Court.
[7] Attorneys for Philip Morris argued unsuccessfully that the ordinance “forced the tobacco company to pull its advertising out of drugstores, interfering with its constitutional right to communicate with its customers”.
[8] In addition to the lawsuit from Philip Morris, on September 8, 2008, Walgreens had more success when it sued the City and County of San Francisco in Superior Court of the State of California, claiming “unconstitutional discrimination” because the Walgreens location would not be allowed to sell cigarettes under the new ordinance whereas grocery and big box stores with pharmacies would be allowed to continue to sell.
With lawsuits from Philip Morris and Walgreens now behind them, the City and County decided to revisit the ordinance with an eye toward broadening it in a way that would even the playing field for all pharmacies.
[13] In Massachusetts, policies have been passed in Abington, Acton, Adams, Agawam, Amherst, Andover, Arlington, Ashburnham, Ashland, Athol, Ayer, Barnstable, Barre, Bedford, Belchertown, Bellingham, Berkley, Beverly, Bolton, Bourne, Boston, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brimfield, Brockton, Brookline, Buckland, Burlington, Cambridge, Carver, Charlemont, Charlton, Chatham, Chelsea, Clinton, Cohasset, Concord, Conway, Dalton, Danvers, Dartmouth, Dedham, Deerfield, Dighton, Dracut, Duxbury, Eastham, Easthampton, Easton, Edgartown, Essex, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Gardner, Georgetown, Gill, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Great Barrington, Greenfield, Groton, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Harvard, Harwich, Hatfield, Haverhill, Hinsdale, Holbrook, Holyoke, Hopkinton, Hubbardston, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lancaster, Lanesborough, Lawrence, Lee, Lenox, Leominster, Leverett, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Malden, Marion, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Maynard, Medfield, Medford, Medway, Melrose, Mendon, Middleborough, Middleton, Millis, Milton, Montague, Needham, New Bedford, Newburyport, Newton, Norfolk, North Adams, Northampton, North Andover, North Attleborough, Northborough, North Reading, Norton, Norwell, Norwood, Oak Bluffs, Orange, Orleans, Otis, Oxford, Palmer, Peabody, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Reading, Revere, Rochester, Rockport, Royalston, Salem, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Shelburne, Sherborn, Shrewsbury, Somerville, Southampton, Southborough, South Hadley, Spencer, Springfield, Stockbridge, Stoneham, Stoughton, Stow, Sudbury, Sunderland, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tisbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Wareham, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley, Wellfleet, Westborough, West Boylston, Westfield, Westford, Weston, Westport, Westwood, Weymouth, Whately, Wilbraham, Williamstown, Wilmington, Winchendon, Winchester, Winthrop, West Springfield, Worcester, Wrentham and Yarmouth.
[20] Similar bans were enacted in Nova Scotia (2000), Nunavut (2004), Newfoundland and Labrador (2005), Prince Edward Island (2006), Northwest Territories (2007), Alberta (2009), Yukon (2011), Saskatchewan (2011) and Manitoba (2013).
[17][21][22][23] In 2014, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia announced that it was considering instituting a by-law for its members which would ban the sale of tobacco products in premises where a pharmacy is located.
