Following in the heels of the decision by CVS Caremark Corp. to stop selling tobacco products, 28 U.S. attorneys general are pushing for the heads of five major retailers to do the same, according to Fox News.

In early February, CVS made the announcement that it was contradictory and "inconsistent" for the company to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products while also selling medicine and cancer treating drugs.

The attorneys general, led by Eric T. Schneiderman and Michael DeWine of New York and Ohio respectively, issued a letter to the chief executive officers of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. requesting that they relinquish the sale of its tobacco products.

"Pharmacies and drug stores, which increasingly market themselves as a source for community health care, send a mixed message by continuing to sell deadly tobacco products," Schneiderman said in statement Monday.

Some of the other attorneys general represent states and territories including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Puerto Rico and Guam, according to Fox.

Walgreen is ranked as the No. 1 U.S. drugstore chain followed by CVS No.2, which said that by Oct. 1 it would have rid its 7,600 stores of the products. The ambitious move makes the drugstore the first of its kind, taking cigarettes off of its shelves.

According to the letter the attorneys general sent to the retailers reported in the Los Angeles Times, 480,000 people are killed in the U.S. because of tobacco-related diseases each year. It also said the cost of healthcare and productivity losses because of smoking account for at least $289 billion a year.

"There is a contradiction in having these dangerous and devastating tobacco products on the shelves of a retail chain that services healthcare needs," according to the letter. "The availability of such products in a retail stroe that also serves as a pharmacy normalizes tobacco use."

So far Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Safeway and Walgreen have said they will evaluate and review the letter sent to them.