CVS takes up social and leadership responsibility

Instead of preaching personal responsibility and taking a “nothing happens unless you, i.e. someone else, makes it happen” stance, CVS has decided to use its positional power and embrace leadership responsibility by choosing not to sell tobacco products.  At a cost of about two billion dollars in annual sales, the leadership at the pharmacy chain of nearly 8,000 US locations is voluntarily forgoing the financial interests of the capitalist enterprise to serve the interests of our society, i.e. the need to reduce tobacco use and reduce tobacco related disease.  Certainly, this type of leadership might serve the long-term and broader unknown interests of CVS, e.g. PR, ethics, etc., but those interests may or may not affect the bottom line in the long-term.  As such, this unexpected policy shift in the CVS business model serves as an example for everyone in a position of authority or with the power to change how our Great Society functions.  The norm tends to be for those most able to make a difference to pass the buck to the government or those who are least able to change things, even when it is their problem to solve.  Consequently, CVS should be recognized for stepping up and saying it is inappropriate for a healthcare company to sell cancer.