Ethical Case:

Smoking or Non$-$Smoking

In $2014,$ CVS pharmacies removed tobacco products from their shelves. They stopped selling cigarettes because of a conflict of interests they saw between their mission to provide pharmaceuticals to improve their customers' health with the addiction and health hazards associated with smoking. Instead of changing their mission statement or business model, they changed their product offerings to address the conflict of interest they perceived.

Gary is a regional manager for Gasnow, a fuel convenience station owned by parent company

Supreme Food. He supervises dozens of stores near Morgantown, WV$.$ He finds it curious that Supreme Food, better known for its grocery store chains, also operates grocery stores merged with pharmacies and banks. Their gas stations, like the type he manages, are also often merged with restaurants. The convenience stations offer gasoline, coffee, cookies, candy, caffeinated soft drinks, sandwiches, lottery tickets, and cigarettes. The soft drinks and cigarettes are high profit margin items, which help to offset the low margin inherent to gasoline sales. Cigarette sales might contribute as much as $60\%$ of the daily profit on any given day.

Gary is concerned that some of the products conflict with Supreme Food's mission$-"$to help our community members live long lives through natural, healthy products." Gary knows that an executive team meeting is scheduled with a representative from a leading tobacco company next week to discuss extending their distribution contract for the next $15$ years. As Gary deliberates how to discuss the jotential conflict of interests with his executive team, what relationship should he seek with this supplier in the next contract? That is$,$ should Gasnow continue to sell cigarettes?