Massachusetts Prohibits Tobacco Sales at Drug Stores

This tourist-dependent Massachusetts town has banned the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in drug stores. The prohibition was voted unanimously by the board of health, effective Sept. 1, or two months before Halloween, when visitors flock here for the annual celebration tied to the 17th century Salem witch trials. Dr. Barbara Poremba, head of the board, said the ban applies to chain pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart as well as locally-owned drug stores. She said banning tobacco sales at pharmacies makes sense when you consider they are key to a community's health care delivery system. "We weren't looking to be punitive," she said.