2018 Volume 13 Issue 3 Pages 37-47
Objective: We investigated current heat-not-burn tobacco sales at pharmacies, and the actual condition and necessity of cessation support for heat-not-burn tobacco users by pharmacists.
Methods: A survey was sent to 300 pharmacists in community pharmacies in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Results: The questionnaire response rate was 61.0% (183/300 pharmacists). There were four pharmacies selling heat-not-burn tobacco (2.2%) and one pharmacy (0.5%) planning to sell in the future. Smoking cessation support for heat-non-burn tobacco users by pharmacists was rarely implemented (n = 165, 90.2%), but 113 pharmacists (61.8%) felt that support for smoking cessation was needed. On the other hand, pharmacists who did not feel the need to support smoking cessation for heat-not-burn tobacco users were also not actively supporting smoking cessation for cigarette smokers.
Conclusion: As heat-not-burn tobacco use is spreading rapidly, there is a possibility that more pharmacies will sell heat-not-burn tobacco. It may be necessary to strengthen smoking cessation support by pharmacy pharmacists.
