Pharmacists

Pharmacists could play a unique role in tobacco cessation efforts, due to the quality and quantity of the knowledge about prescription medication and their possible interactions with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT; nicotine patches, gum, etc.).

Pharmacists can potentially increase quit attempts in customers by encouraging the movement of NRT and smoking cessation materials from the behind the counters and locked cabinets to more accessible areas (e.g., next to the tobacco products, near the check out lines). While some people who seek advice from a pharmacist may have already talked with a health care provider, such as their primary care physician about the benefits and risks of smoking cessation & NRT, others seek the help of a pharmacist for quit attempts that they make on their own. Community pharmacists should have access to information on smoking cessation because they are encouraged to provide advice regarding the correct use of NRT products.

What a Pharmacist Can Do to Help:

• Ask all your clients if they smoke or use tobacco products, talk to them about the benefits of quitting, and help users develop a quit plan that is tailored to their specific needs.
• Educate clients on the health risks of smoking and tobacco products, and make them aware of the risk associated with tobacco use and particular prescriptions (e.g., birth control).
• Discourage smoking and tobacco use among your clients, and be a role model to them. Do not smoke or use tobacco products, and do not sell tobacco products at your pharmacy.
• Take advantage of opportunities to address smoking with clients who are purchasing items like pregnancy tests or vitamins, whitening toothpastes, and similar products. This may give you an opportunity to talk to them about how quitting smoking can improve their baby's health, make their teeth brighter, etc.²
• Refer clients to an intensive quit program or a Quitline, help clients stay on their quit program, and follow up with them.
• Teach clients how to use the patch, the inhaler, and other quit products correctly and effectively.
• Inform clients about drug interactions from pharmacological smoking cessation treatments and encourage them to talk to their primary care physician about their plan.
• Consider learning behavioral interventions to recommend to your clients and conduct smoking-cessation classes.
• Take part in educational and community initiatives to reduce smoking and tobacco product use.

Helpful Links

Rx for Change is a Clinician-Assisted Tobacco Cessation program originally designed for pharmacy students, but appropriate for students and licensed clinicians in all health fields. It provides the knowledge and skills necessary to assist clients in quitting tobacco use and is based on the principles of the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence. The materials were developed collaboratively and are owned jointly by the University of California, the University of Southern California, and Western University of Health Sciences. The copyright is represented by The Regents of the University of California. After registering on the following website, materials can be downloaded: http://rxforchange.ucsf.edu.

Therapeutic Strategies in Smoking Cessation

Fax to Assist

See Fax to Assist for more information on our Fax Referral Program.