March 28 (UPI) — Walmart has quietly started removing cigarettes from some stores in states including California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, it has been reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Walmart had already removed the tobacco aisles and replaced some with more self-checkout registers or snack items. A company spokesperson confirmed the report to CNN.
It was not immediately known exactly how many stores had completely removed tobacco products.
Shares in tobacco products dropped after the Wall Street Journal report was published, with the price for Phillip Morris International down 2.2%, Altria Group dropping 3% and British American Tobacco down 1.6%.
Public health advocates have pushed major retail chains that have pharmacies to stop selling tobacco and nicotine products. Walmart has also faced scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration, which found in 2019 that its stores were not totally compliant with sales to minors.
Walmart said in 2019 that it would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco and e-cigarette products to 21 at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores and discontinued the sale of flavored e-cigarette products.
The company later said it would stop selling e-cigarette products altogether after health officials linked at least seven deaths and hundreds of illnesses to vaping products.
Other large retailers have already pulled cigarettes from their shelves completely over the years, including Target in 1996 and CVS in 2014.
Cigarette sales increased for the first time in 20 years in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report. Nearly a billion more cigarettes were sold in 2020 compared to 2019.
