Want to quit smoking? Ask your pharmacist for help

Pharmacists are underutilized resources. They are highly qualified health professionals and yet their work still mostly consists of selling medicine as if they were just cashiers. Scientists from the University of Waterloo say that the role of scientists in public health efforts could be enhanced, especially in such areas as helping people to quit smoking.

Pharmacists are probably the ones that are the easiest to reach when it comes to health professionals. You just need to go to the nearest pharmacy and you can get some reliable advices and a good consultation. However, despite being extremely well educated, pharmacists are not allowed to give extended medical advice. On one hand, it is good, because they are not doctors, but on the other – some questions, such as quitting bad habits, do not always require doctor’s opinion. Scientists interviewed key opinion leaders and subject matter experts in smoking cessation and came to a conclusion that pharmacists could be enlisted to help with the goal of reducing the estimated 45,000 annual deaths that occur in Canada from tobacco use.

But why people do not approach pharmacists when they are trying to quit smoking? Well, the issue is that many don’t know that pharmacists can help. Professor Nardine Nakhla, one of the authors of the study, said: “Pharmacists are embedded in communities and often have long hours, making them easily accessible to Canadians who are looking for support in their quit attempts. They are knowledgeable about the wide range of products available to help people quit, and possess the skills and tools necessary to help guide patients towards a smoke-free lifestyle”. Therefore, the goal is to inform people that pharmacist can provide some assistance and encourage pharmacists to get involved in the process of quitting smoking.

There are medications that can help quitting to smoke, but not many tobacco users know about them until they visit doctors. Pharmacists can also provide consultations, offering advices about what can help putting out that last cigarette. However, scientists say that consistency should be reached across the pharmacies in the country. That is why they will be looking into harmonizing the tools and resources available to pharmacists in all different regions in Canada.

But the best thing about pharmacists is that they are always easy to reach and their consultations typically do not take a lot of time. Once more people start asking pharmacists for advice, they will gain experience and will be able to tell what will work for each case. Most importantly, in the questions like this they cannot really do any harm anyway.

Source: University of Waterloo