CVS CEO Addresses Vaping Situation With Shocking Hello Kitty Observation

CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo has shared his opinion on the teen vaping crisis recently and they were very disheartening.
The Chief Executive expressed his concerns on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and said that it was five years ago when he saw a Hello Kitty logo on a vaping device that he knew something was wrong.

“We don’t know the longitudinal effect of these products and something has to be done,” said Merlo. “Something has to be done,” he added.

It was in 2014 that CVS ended the sale of tobacco products at its stores and this was around the time that Merlo says he saw vaping products surface.

“I saw the device with the Hello Kitty logo and the bubblegum liquid,” he recalls, saying it raised the question: “What are we doing here?”

“I can remember going into a retail establishment that was selling [e-cigarettes] and I saw the device with the Hello Kitty logo and the bubblegum liquid,” said Merlo. “It absolutely raised the question of, ‘wait a minute, what are we doing here?’”

“Five years later and we see the question raised,” Merlo added.

Banning flavors is a step in the right direction to stopping teen use, Merlo remarked. “We’ve made a lot of progress to create a tobacco-free generation,” he added. “Vaping is taking us backwards.”
It was last month that e-cigarette company Juul stopped sales of its popular mint flavor, which accounts for the bulk of its U.S. revenue.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.