Smoking-Related Cancer Deaths by State, 2020
Tobacco use causes about one-third of cancer deaths in the nation overall, but the burden varies by state.
Increasing Access to FDA-Approved Cessation Medication through Pharmacies
February 6, 2024
Increasingly pharmacies are playing a greater public health role, due in part to their many locations in communities, extended hours of operation, and administering some vaccines, and providing individuals guidance on how to safely use medications. In fact, a recent study found that 48% of people in the U.S. live within 1 mile of a pharmacy, 73% within 2 miles, 88% within 5 miles, and 96% within 10 miles.[i] The availability of pharmacies creates additional opportunities to aid adults who want to quit tobacco,[ii],[iii] especially among those living in rural areas. Pharmacies’ ability to provide cessation services has the potential to reduce tobacco-related cessation disparities experienced by rural adults who may have limited access to health care professionals, hospital services, and specialty care.[iv]
Pharmacies can offer an additional opportunity to aid individuals wanting to quit by providing immediate support and access to cessation medications. In 2004, New Mexico was the first state to allow pharmacists to offer tobacco cessation medications and, as a result, there is long-term data to evaluate the effectiveness of this policy intervention. Two studies estimated 18%-25% of patients in New Mexico who received cessation services from pharmacists had successfully quit for 6-months, and those rates are consistent with patients offered cessation services provided by other clinicians.[v],[vi],[vii] The Surgeon General recommended the strategy of expanding pharmacists’ prescriptive authority in the 2020 Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General to increase access to evidenced-based cessation interventions.[viii] [ix]
[i] Berenbrok LA, Tang S, Gabriel N, Guo J, Sharareh N, Patel N, Dickson S, Hernandez I. Access to community pharmacies: A nationwide geographic information systems cross-sectional analysis. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 Nov-Dec;62(6):1816-1822.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.07.003. Epub 2022 Jul 15. PMID: 35965233.
[i] Hilts KE, Hudmon KS, Benson AF, Elkhadragy N. Rural-urban disparities in tobacco use and the role of pharmacists in closing the gap. J Rural Health. 2022 Mar;38(2):355-359. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12607. Epub 2021 Aug 10. PMID: 34374450; PMCID: PMC8828795.
[ii] American Cancer Society. Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures 2023-2024. https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/cancer-preventio...
[iii] ACS CAN recognizes the important role of ceremonial tobacco for many indigenous communities. This term is intended to address commercial tobacco, not the provision, possession, or use of tobacco products as part of an indigenous practice or other recognized religious or spiritual ceremony or practice. All references to tobacco and tobacco products in this fact sheet refer to commercial tobacco.
[iv] Hilts KE, Hudmon KS, Benson AF, Elkhadragy N. Rural-urban disparities in tobacco use and the role of pharmacists in closing the gap. J Rural Health. 2022 Mar;38(2):355-359. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12607. Epub 2021 Aug 10. PMID: 34374450; PMCID: PMC8828795.
[v] Hilts KE, Corelli RL, Vernon VP, Hudmon KS. Update and recommendations: Pharmacists' prescriptive authority for tobacco cessation medications in the United States. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 Sep-Oct;62(5):1531-1537. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.06.005. Epub 2022 Jun 18. PMID: 35953378; PMCID: PMC9464677.
[vi] Shen X, Bachyrycz A, Anderson JR,Tinker D, Raisch DW. Quitting patterns and predictors of success among participants in a tobacco cessation program provided by pharmacists in New Mexico. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2014;20(6):579–587.
[vii] Khan N, Anderson JR, Du J, Tinker D, Bachyrycz AM, Namdar R. Smoking cessation and its predictors: results from a community-based pharmacy tobacco cessation program in New Mexico. Ann Pharmacother. 2012;46(9):1198–1204.
[viii] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2020-cessation-sgr-full-report.pdf.
[ix] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014.