Promoting Tobacco Cessation in the Community: Pharmacy

Every year, smoking kills an estimated 480,000 Americans and costs $300 billion. As of 2018, 34 million Americans smoked cigarettes, and community pharmacies are in a unique position to provide evidence-based interventions to drive down rates of tobacco use and save lives. In many rural areas, for example, where smoking rates are the highest, the community pharmacist is the sole access point for healthcare services. It is critical that pharmacists and technicians working in community pharmacies understand the role they can play in reducing tobacco use and be able to implement evidence-based interventions.