CDC wants pharmacists to help tobacco users quit and has launched a Web page on the CDC website, “Pharmacists: Help Your Patients Quit Smoking,” which includes links to FAQs for health care providers, downloadable “Talk With Your Pharmacist” posters to hang near the pharmacy counter, and toll-free numbers for free quit help (1-800-QUIT-NOW for English speakers and 1-855-DÉJELO-YA for Spanish speakers).

This campaign follows the agency’s 2-year-old paid national tobacco education campaign, Tips From Former Smokers, which features stories of former smokers living with smoking-related diseases and disabilities, as well as nonsmokers who have experienced life-threatening episodes resulting from secondhand smoke.

APhA supports the CDC’s campaign. We have significant policy urging the removal of tobacco products from pharmacies and facilities that include pharmacies. As health care providers, pharmacists are committed to limiting access to products that are known to cause disease and poor health.

As part of our Pharmacists Provide Care campaign, we recorded hundreds of videos with pharmacists telling their stories, including this one by Beth Martin, pharmacist from Wisconsin, describing her success in delivering smoking cessation programs.  Let’s let CDC know about your work. Add your comment below or post on APhA’s Facebook page describing your own work to help smokers quit. We’ll compile them and share them with CDC.