WOONSOCKET, R.I. – A new analysis after the drugstore jettisoned cigarettes from its stores in October 2014 claims that former CVS customers simply stopped buying tobacco products instead of moving to other channels for their purchases.

"When we removed tobacco from our shelves, a significant number of our customers simply stopped buying and hopefully smoking cigarettes altogether instead of just altering their cigarette purchasing habits," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., chief medical officer of CVS Health and an author of the study. "This research proves that our decision had a powerful public health impact by disrupting access to cigarettes and helping more of our customers on their path to better health.

While cigarette purchases were reduced across all retail settings after CVS’s decision, those who purchased cigarettes exclusively at CVS Pharmacy were 38% more likely to stop buying cigarettes, according to the study.  Those who purchased three or more packs per month were more than twice as likely to stop buying cigarettes altogether. CVS paid for and wrote the study, and the journal article was peer-reviewed before publication.

Forbes reports that removing tobacco products from CVS’s 7,600 stores resulted in loss of $2 billion in annual sales that existed when it sold cigarettes. Since the chain’s 2014 decision, other drugstores haven’t followed suit. Walgreens, for example, says it’s placing more emphasis on smoking cessation programs, despite scrutiny from shareholders to follow CVS’s lead as a health-care-related provider and remove tobacco sales from its stores.

According to the NACS State of the Industry Report, more trips to convenience stores as well as CVS divesting its tobacco business helped cigarettes shift to positive sales growth of 3.4% in 2015. Cigarettes remain a top sales dollar generator inside the store.

In other tobacco-related news, state legislatures continue to eye higher tobacco taxes as revenue generators and smoking prevention methods. This week, Montana state Sen. Mary Caferro proposed raising the state’s current $1.70 cigarette tax excise tax by $1.50, which would bump the tax per pack to more than $3.20, KTVH-TV reports.

In New York, legislators are considering a measure for the second time that would ban discounts and coupons for tobacco products. The bill would apply to most tobacco products, including e-cigs, cigarettes and cigars, The Journal News reports. Sponsored by state Sen. David Carlucci and Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, the proposal is based on a New York City law, according to the news source.