 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Sarah Curi, JD, MPH, Northeastern University School of Law, Tobacco Control Resource Center, 102 The Fenway #117, Boston, MA 02115-5000, 617-373-8494, scuri@tplp.org
Background: In the United Kingdom, France, Italy and many Canadian provinces all pharmacies are tobacco-free. In the United States and in other countries, however, most pharmacies sell the number one cause of preventable death - tobacco!
Methods: Research methods included reviewing public health and professional journals, and secondary sources as well as interviewing stake holders. Legal research was performed to establish what, if any, laws exist which ban or restrict the sale of tobacco in pharmacies.
Results: When tobacco is sold in pharmacies it legitimizes its use and sends the wrong message. Pharmacists, as health care professionals, are dedicated to promoting health and healing. It is both a professional and ethical contradiction for Pharmacists to counsel patients, provide prescription drug therapy, and sell over-the-counter medicines, while profiting from the sale of tobacco products.
Conclusions: The sale of tobacco products in pharmacies is counter to public health. Experience with internal tobacco industry documents, law, merchant education, and mobilization of pharmacists demonstrates the importance of multiple interdisciplinary strategies in promoting tobacco-free pharmacies. Through concerted interdisciplinary action, the elimination of tobacco products from pharmacies is an achievable tobacco control strategy that will benefit the public health.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Pharmacies, Tobacco Policy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.