Dear Mr. Levine:

I am signing this petition to urge you to reverse your recent decision to start selling tobacco products at Family Dollar Stores. Given the devastating toll of tobacco use on America’s children and families, we believe your decision is an enormous step in the wrong direction. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and kills more than 400,000 people annually. An additional 50,000 die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke. The toll of tobacco on our economy is also staggering, costing the U.S. more than $96 billion in health care expenditures and $97 billion in lost productivity each year. Selling tobacco products at Family Dollar stores will add to this terrible burden on our nation’s health and economy.

On your company’s website, you include the claim that the decision to sell tobacco products was based on “convenience” for your customers. In fact, selling tobacco to your customers will make it easier for them to become addicted or sustain an existing addiction and suffer the dire economic and health consequences of tobacco use. The fact that your customer base is comprised of low income families makes your decision even more troubling. Low-income people smoke more, suffer more, spend more, and die more from tobacco use. They are more likely to suffer the harmful consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke. These families also may have limited access to health care and thus may be more likely to be diagnosed with tobacco-caused illnesses at a later stage, after their conditions have worsened and they are in greater need of care and services. Sales of tobacco products at Family Dollar stores will only worsen these terrible burdens and health disparities.

The choice to sell tobacco in your stores is also starkly at odds with the health care initiatives long supported by the Leon Levine Foundation, founded by Family Dollar’s founder and former CEO Leon Levine. While we understand that the foundation is wholly separate from Family Dollar Stores Inc., it is hard to ignore the contradiction between selling tobacco – and thus promoting the use of an addictive and deadly product – while simultaneously promoting health care initiatives. We urge you to put the health and economic well-being of your customers first. Reverse the decision to sell tobacco products in your stores and restore Family Dollar’s reputation as a store that truly values families.

Sincerely,

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