No More Alcohol & Tobacco at Morton Pharmacy
Alcohol and Cigarettes Are Part of Pharmacy History
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Alcohol and tobacco display at
Morton Pharmacy, circa 1952. |
Historically, alcohol, cigarettes and all order of tobacco products were a large part of a pharmacy’s offerings. In fact, many interior photos of early Morton Drug Company stores showed an elaborate wall display of liquors and tobacco. It wasn’t until 1991 that Morton Pharmacy decided to eliminate entirely the sale of tobacco products. Back then, these products annually generated more than $75,000 in sales at Morton’s four locations, but Peter Morton succinctly explained the logic behind the decision. “It’s difficult to promote wellness and sell cigarettes at the same time. From a credibility standpoint, it has an impact. Why jeopardize your credibility by selling cigarettes?”
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A 1991 Post-Crescent
article announcing
Morton's termination
of in-store
tobacco
sales. |
In conjunction with the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout in November 1991, Morton’s tobacco sales were entirely eliminated. In a press release dates October 30, 1991, the company announced, “No longer will any pharmacy owned by Morton Drug Co. Inc. promote or provide healthcare at one end of the business and then sell cancer at the other. Rather, we will be encouraging and helping our customers to stop smoking.” It was big news, and all of the local newspapers, radio stations and two network television stations picked up the story. National Public Radio even reported on Morton’s groundbreaking decision, which evoked letters and phone calls from across the country.
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Morton's decision is
featured in a 1992 article
in American Druggist
magazine. |
Nearly two years later, Peter Morton wrote an article for October 1993 issue of Wisconsin Pharmacist where he reported, “The publicity that we have received on this issue has been outstanding. We obviously made this decision at a very critical time …we feel we have accomplished our goal without alienating our tobacco using customers.”
Even though it was the 1980s when Morton Drug stopped selling alcohol, there was that notorious lull in the availability of spirits during Prohibition that lasted from 1920 until 1933. According to the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, private owners of some 600,000 gallons of spirits sold their liquor to drug stores that were legally able to sell the alcohol for medical use only. It is estimated that nationally, doctors earned over $40 million in one year by writing prescriptions for whiskey while “patients” obtained counterfeit prescriptions to purchase the alcohol. Fortunately, Charles Morton didn’t have to face such a quandary, as his pharmacy was only open a short time before the repeal of Prohibition.
