On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to join a distinguished panel of public health and private sector speakers to discuss how we, as a nation, should be combatting tobacco use. Other speakers for the event included RADM Boris Lushniak, MD, MPH, Acting U.S. Surgeon General; William Shrank, MD, MSHS, Chief Scientific Officer, CVS Health; Matthew Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; and Shari Davidson, Vice President of the National Business Group on Health.

We addressed three major issues during our panel:

1. Despite years of progress, smoking remains a public health crisis in the United States. While smoking rates are down significantly, compared with 50 years ago, it’s still estimated that over 18% of the U.S. population still smokes. According to CDC, cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths every year in the United States, and life expectancy for smokers is at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers. Yet tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of illness and death. As the Surgeon General put it, “There’s no more argument on tobacco. The science is with us on this one.”
2. Pharmacists and pharmacies need to play a key role in helping people quit. Pharmacies are a natural place for people to go for help to quit. Almost all pharmacies across the nation sell nicotine replacement therapies and are readily accessible to advise patients on the right product for them. We need benefits coverage for pharmacists’ services through the government so these local pharmacies can also offer behavior modification coaching and quit support programs. The combination of nicotine replacement therapy or medication and coaching has been proven to be much more effective in improving quit rates than just nicotine replacement therapy or medication alone.
3. The issue of e-cigarettes came up not only through this discussion but also at our 2014 Annual Meeting as a pretty lively discussion resulting in policy on e-cigarettes. There just isn’t enough science behind them yet to say for sure whether they actually help people quit or if they have any long-term adverse effects. As an Association, we are cautious; and until the science is proven, we think pharmacies should not sell them. We also call upon FDA to implement its proposed rule to regulate e-cigarettes, and other unregulated tobacco products, under the same rules as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

To express pharmacists’ concerns over tobacco use, our APhA House of Delegates passed policy in 2010 on discontinuation of the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies and facilities that include pharmacies. More recently,  you’ve seen a lot of news come from APhA about tobacco cessation. The stories range from CVS Health’s decision to remove tobacco from its stores a month early and our partnership with CDC’s “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign to the increase of tobacco cessation programs at pharmacies nationwide and our thoughts on why e-cigarettes, as any tobacco product, should not be sold in pharmacies. We also reported on Tuesday’s panel on pharmacist.com.

The issues of tobacco use and the sale of tobacco products through providers of health care services are going to be hot topics in the coming years as the campaigns from both public and private sectors increase. From the Association’s and my personal perspective, pharmacists should get ahead of the trend. Selling tobacco and promoting public health just don’t mix.