Actually, I can see the logic behind singling out pharmacies for this ban. A pharmacy isn't just another business -it's a part of the health care system, and is run by registered health care professionals who are bound by a code of professional ethics. It does seem unethical for a pharmacist to endorse and profit from smoking.

There is precedent for putting limits on enterprise for pharmacies. For example, a convenience store or newsstand is there as a private business and can choose which products to stock based on what they feel will bring them the most profits. But a pharmacy is not free to only supply the drugs that have higher profit margins - they are obliged to sell any drug that can be prescribed by a doctor or nurse practitioner.

I know there is controversy over whether pharmacists with religious objections should be obliged to sell OTC emergency contraception - but the fact that this is even controversial reflects the fact that pharmacists have a professional obligation to act in the interests of health. If a religious convenience store owner doesn't want to sell condoms, that's not a matter for controversy, because the convenience store is a purely private enterprise.

PS to Rapaire - nicotine gums and patches are quite a different story in that they have a pro-health purpose - so it is consistent with pharmacists' ethics and mission to provide them.