Does Rite Aid Sell Cigarettes In 2024? (All You Need To Know)

Rite Aid, one of the largest drugstore chains in the U.S., made big changes in recent years to the tobacco products sold in their pharmacies. With over 2,300 Rite Aid locations across the country, many customers wonder if they can still buy cigarettes or other tobacco products when visiting a Rite Aid store in 2024.

The Phase Out of Tobacco Sales at Rite Aid

In 2020, Rite Aid announced plans to remove all tobacco products from their stores within 2 years. By late 2022, the company confirmed the removal of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and other tobacco products was complete chainwide.

This monumental decision ended a long run of Rite Aid selling tobacco in their stores. According to Rite Aid‘s 2020 annual report, tobacco products made up 1.1% of the company‘s fiscal 2020 revenues. While not a huge percent, ending tobacco sales likely still impacted overall revenue to some degree.

Here is a timeline of Rite Aid‘s phase out of tobacco products in recent years:

Why Rite Aid Isn‘t Selling Cigarettes Anymore

Rite Aid provided a few key reasons behind their choice to stop selling tobacco products:

• Aligning with their brand image as a health and wellness company: As a pharmacy, selling cigarettes and tobacco seemed at odds with Rite Aid‘s focus. Removing tobacco helps cement their brand as dedicated to healthcare.

• Changes in societal expectations: With other major pharmacy chains like CVS ending tobacco sales years ago, Rite Aid likely felt pressure to follow suit and meet changing attitudes around tobacco‘s availability in pharmacies.

• Declining demand: As smoking rates drop, fewer Rite Aid customers were buying tobacco products when visiting stores. Eliminating tobacco frees up shelf space for more in-demand health and wellness merchandise.

While not directly stated, it‘s likely the regulatory environment also played a role. Stricter FDA rules around tobacco sales to minors may have motivated Rite Aid to drop tobacco rather than deal with the heightened scrutiny.

What Tobacco-Related Products Does Rite Aid Sell Now?

With the removal of all tobacco products including cigarettes, Rite Aid stores no longer sell anything tobacco-related except for over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy products (gum, patches, lozenges).

These smoking cessation aids are kept behind pharmacy counters and you must show ID to confirm you are 18 or older to purchase them. Rite Aid also carries cessation aids like Nicotine lozenges and gum online through their pharmacy delivery services.

Outside of OTC quitting aids, you won‘t find anything tobacco-related at Rite Aid, including cigars, pipe tobacco, rolling papers, or vaping devices and e-liquids. Rite Aid has entirely eradicated tobacco products from their stores in support of healthcare and wellness priorities.

Should You Expect Rite Aid to Sell Cigarettes Again in the Future?

Given the clear focus Rite Aid has placed on removing tobacco from their brand identity, it seems highly unlikely that cigarettes or other tobacco products will return to their shelves in the foreseeable future.

By finishing the chainwide phase out of tobacco sales, Rite Aid has made their stance clear. While other pharmacies like Walgreens still sell tobacco, Rite Aid appears firmly committed to keeping their stores tobacco-free for good.

So if you‘re wondering "Does Rite Aid sell cigarettes near me?", the answer will almost certainly continue to be no. Rite Aid has joined pharmacy chains like CVS in fully moving away from tobacco sales rather than still offering them.

The Bottom Line

Rite Aid no longer sells cigarettes or any tobacco products at any of their over 2,300 pharmacy locations across the United States as of 2022. The company made the move to stop selling tobacco in an effort to focus more on health and wellness priorities aligned with their pharmacy brand image.

While you can no longer purchase tobacco at Rite Aid, they do offer smoking cessation aids and nicotine replacement products for those looking to quit smoking. But cigarettes and other tobacco items are now fully banned from Rite Aid store shelves. So going forward, you‘ll need to look elsewhere if you want to purchase tobacco products.