Walgreens Tests Tobacco-Free Stores

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Deerfield, Ill.) is testing tobacco-free stores in the U.S., but the drug-store retailer says it has no plans to stop selling tobacco completely, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“The safety of our patients is very important but we still have to do what our customers are requiring us to do,” said Stefano Pessina, Walgreens Boots Alliance chief executive. “We see that when we don’t sell tobacco, we have a lot of [negative] reactions.”

The retailer was recently named by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as one of 15 national retailers accused of selling tobacco to minors.