tinnitul getting 5mm

WASHINGTON, DC 20510

February 14, 2019

Stefano Pessina

Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Of?cer
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

200 Wilmont Road

Deerfield, Illinois 60015

Dear Mr. Pessina,

Exactly ?ve years ago, we wrote to Walgreens urging that your 
mission statement is to ?champion the health and well-being of every community in America"?
stop selling tobacco products. At the time, we noted that doing so would foster the health and
wellness of Walgreens customers and send a critical message to all Americans?and especially
children?about the dangers of tobacco use. Unfortunately, your company rejected our request
and instead chose to continue selling tobacco products?including illegally to children.

According to new information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 22
percent ofWalgreens stores nationwide inspected by FDA have been caught selling tobacco
products to children since 2010, making your stores the largest violators of illegal tobacco
product sales to our nation?s children. This is unacceptable. Given that your company is either
unwilling or unable to keep tobacco products out of the hands ot?kids who frequent your stores,
we once again write to urge you, as a health care pharmacy, to put children over pro?ts and
immediately stop selling dangerous and addictive tobacco products at your stores.

For decades, the United States has been enormously successful at reducing youth tobacco
use, including by reducing cigarette smoking among high school students from 28 percent in
2000 to 8 percent in 2018. However, these gains are at risk of being reversed because of newer
tobacco products being sold to children in your stores?especially electronic cigarettes 
cigarettes) like UUL and their accompanying kid-friendly ?avors (fruit medley, mango, cool
cucumber, creme brulee, mint). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), tobacco use among our nation?s children is now increasing. Between 2017 and 2018, use
of tobacco products among high school students grew more than 38 percent, with nearly 5
million youth now using a tobacco product. This alarming increase has been driven largely by an
increase in e-cigarette use. Over the last year, we saw a 78 percent increase in high-school use of
e-cigarettes, and a 48 percent increase in middle-school use ofe?cigarettes.

According to your website, Walgreens is committed to "supporting the health, well?being
and vitality of the communities we serve; enabling young people to achieve their potential
wherever they are in the world; and developing and mobilizing our resources and partnerships in
the fight against cancer.? Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United
States, killing more than 480,000 people every year. For the first time in decades, tobacco use

Sincerely,

 

Duba?

 

 

   

Riehard J. Durbin -we1don Whitehouse
United States Senator United States Senator

 

 

Richard Blumenthal Sherrod Brown

United States Senator United States Senator

Reed
nited States Senator