Dartmouth Crossing Costco to Stop Selling Tobacco Products

Costco’s Dartmouth Crossing location has announced it is quitting tobacco products.

The store posted a notice to customers saying it will stop selling tobacco products after August 31.

The news is getting a mixed reaction from Costco customers, some of whom didn’t know the measure had been announced.

Costco declined to comment after its Dartmouth Crossing location announced it will no longer sell tobacco products.

“I didn't even know they had cigarettes, to tell you the truth,” said shopper Lewis MacDonald.

“I never did buy them with Costco anyways,” remarked shopper Colleen Boudreau.

The announcement is welcome news to the Nova Scotia Lung Association.

“Anything we can do to decrease the access to tobacco in this province is positive as far as the Lung Association is concerned,” said Louis Brill, the association’s CEO.

“The reason is irrelevant to me. It’s just the decrease in access,” he said.

Costco is not revealing the reason for the decision.

A spokesperson at Costco’s Ottawa headquarters declined to comment, saying the company does not do interviews.

In its notice to customers, the Dartmouth Crossing location did say it’s not quitting cold turkey.

Cigarette orders will still be available for pickup at Costco’s Bayers Lake store.

Jennifer Heatley, tobacco control co-ordinator with the province’s Department of Health and Wellness, says anything to reduce access to tobacco is a positive step.

“Reduced access and availability is a key contributor to reducing smoking,” Heatley said.

She said Nova Scotians have been finding reasons to quit.

“Right now we're at about 19 per cent smoking rate, which is down from around 30 per cent in 1999,” she said.

That puts Nova Scotia roughly in the middle of the pack nationally, she said.

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Will Saskatchewan Ban Sale of Menthol Cigarettes?

 “Out of 15 to 19 year olds in Saskatchewan, 20 per cent smoke,” said Saskatchewan Lung Association health promotion vice-president Jennifer Miller.

That’s one of the highest smoking rates among youth in the country.

“If we look at the last three years the Canadian numbers have gone down about three per cent but in Saskatchewan we’ve only gone down just over one per cent,” said Miller.

Sunday marked World No Tobacco Day and the day Alberta became the latest province to take menthol tobacco products off the shelves, snuffing them out at the end of September. This comes as most flavoured tobacco products are also being pulled.

“The most important thing is that we help protect the health of Albertans and particular our youth, the research was really clear that this step needed to be taken to do so,” said Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman in Edmonton on Sunday.

“There’s a misperception that youth don’t use menthol products but what we know is that it’s actually the flavour of choice for youth,” said Miller.

Nova Scotia set the bar removing flavoured tobacco and menthol Sunday. Other provinces are moving in that same direction.

The Saskatchewan Lung Association feels the Saskatchewan government should also ‘butt out.’

“We don’t have to open up legislation for this … it’s a simple regulation, they have the regulatory authority to make this change and they need to step up, we’re really being tired of being the last province to be doing this,” said Miller.

The provincial government says it is committed to reducing tobacco use in Saskatchewan, especially when it comes to youth and is working on a provincial reduction strategy. It’s also monitoring Health Canada’s approach to the federal government’s Tobacco Control Act.

A bill was passed in Manitoba Monday to regulate electronic cigarettes and in Quebec, three tobacco companies have been ordered to pay $15 billion in damages an historic class action lawsuit.