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Walgreens, Kroger to discontinue e-cigarette sales

Drug retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Oct. 7 that the company will stop selling e-cigarettes in the U.S. amid regulatory concerns over vaping products.

Supermarket chain The Kroger Co. also has decided to discontinue e-cigarette sales in its stores because of regulatory complexity over the product, CNBC reported.

The retailers' decisions come at a time when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the outbreak of lung illnesses linked to vaping. The agency has urged people to stop using e-cigarettes.

As of Oct. 1, the CDC reported 1,080 lung injury cases related to vaping and confirmed 18 deaths. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also warned consumers not to use vaping products containing THC.

"We have made the decision to stop selling e-cigarette products at our stores nationwide as the CDC, FDA and other health officials continue to examine the issue," Illinois-based Walgreens said in a statement.

"Kroger is discontinuing the sale of electronic nicotine delivery products, or e-cigarettes, at all store and fuel center locations due to the mounting questions and increasingly-complex regulatory environment associated with these products," a Kroger spokesperson said in an emailed statement to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Recently, Walmart Inc. announced its plan to stop selling e-cigarettes in its U.S. stores, including Sam's Club. Rite Aid Corp. stopped the sale of e-cigarettes in April.

In September, members of Congress asked four e-cigarette companies to stop advertising their products and called on large retailers to halt sales of all tobacco products.

Several states and cities including New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Oregon and Chicago have issued a ban on vaping products.

However, Kroger will reportedly continue to sell tobacco products in its stores.