The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: In Canada, the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies is governed by provincial legislation. This study examines the professional practices and opinions of pharmacists in relation to the policy environment with respect to the sales of tobacco products in pharmacies.

Methods: A detailed questionnaire was mailed to community pharmacists practicing in four Canadian provinces. Provinces were selected on the basis of restrictions on tobacco sales in pharmacies. The overall response rate was 72% (n=996). Practices and opinions were compared between: i) pharmacists in provinces allowing and those not allowing the sales of tobacco in pharmacies, ii) pharmacists selling tobacco and those that do not within provinces permitting pharmacy tobacco sales, and iii) pharmacists that do not sell tobacco and pharmacists in provinces not permitting pharmacy tobacco sales. Logistic regression, controlling for practice years, sex, and community size was employed.

Results: Pharmacists practicing in provinces allowing pharmacy tobacco sales were twice as likely to know their clients' smoking status and feel that assisting in smoking cessation is an important role for pharmacists (p<0.001), but were 3.6 times less likely to ask new patients about smoking, compared to pharmacists in provinces banning pharmacy tobacco sales (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between pharmacists selling tobacco and those not, within provinces allowing pharmacy tobacco sales, nor between pharmacists not selling tobacco and their peers, under tobacco sales restrictions (p>0.10).