Marion, I apologize if I did not address your comments directly, or at all. But I'm sorry to tell you that I disagree with your comments.

First, there is nothing magical or mystical about a pharmacy. One doesn't need to be a pharmacist, I believe, to own one...just need to hire one to handle and dispense drugs. In big chain drugstores, the overall store manager is generally not a pharmacist. If an individual pharmacy or drugstore wishes to eschew tobacco sales, I say fine. But if they decide to, that's fine too, and the public can decide whether to patronize a pharmaceutical merchant who sells those products.

The premise of your other comment is faulty. Often pharmacies have no choice of whether to sell generic drugs or the exact one prescribed. Insurance plans, private and governmental often decide the prescription formulary, or whatever its called. For instance, for 5 or 6 years I was taking a particular medication; this year my HMO decided to change to other choices it deemed equally as efficacious; if I and the pharmacy want to do business with that HMO, I'm not getting the previous medication.

A druggist may not change a doctor's prescription on his/her own hook. Doctors, and the patient, decide if a generic is allowed to be substituted, not the pharmacy, absent an intervening provider. I suppose a pharmacy can choose not to do business with insurance companies--I know two doctors who so choose--and I guess if they're really greedy they can decide not to handle generics. I'm not sure they'll be in business for long, competition being what it is. Is this a concept, the free market, that bothers you?

JohnotSC