American drugstore chains are trying really hard to re-brand themselves as corner-store healthcare providers rather than basic convenience marts that dispense pharmaceuticals. CVS made the first move recently by axing all cigarette sales in an effort to prod its customers toward healthier lifestyles. Nevertheless, these same chains continue to sell soda pop, sugar-filled snack items and other harmful consumer products that end up creating lifelong legal drug addicts.

Take a walk through the aisles of an average CVS store and you'll see this reality first-hand: shelves lined with two-liter bottles of Coca-Cola, endless packages of artificially flavored and colored candy and chemical-laden personal care products galore. It's everything a person wouldn't want to consume or expose himself to when trying to live a healthy life, and yet CVS, Walgreens and all the rest see nothing wrong with selling these products.

Getting rid of cigarettes is a step in the right direction, but should CVS continue to peddle processed junk foods loaded with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and trans fats while claiming to promote health? What about the many dozens of square feet of refrigeration units filled with beer and wine? Are these items somehow more beneficial to consumers than tobacco?

"While consumer advocates note that CVS's ban on tobacco products to promote 'better health' is a laudable one, they note that to be truly 'healthy,' drugstores (not just CVS) should do more to clean up their shelves -- in particular in the food and beverage aisle," writes Catey Hill for MarketWatch. "Indeed, some of the items that these drugstores still sell may lead to conditions that the drugstores have medications to treat, like heart disease, obesity and diabetes."