What to ask a pharmacist when you are preparing to quit smoking

01

Show what you are actually using

FDA's pharmacist conversation guide recommends explaining prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, herbal products and supplements, along with relevant changes, allergies and difficulties using medicines. Bring the actual package or a readable list rather than relying only on its colour or a partly remembered name.

FDA's smoking guide also advises telling a doctor or pharmacist about other medicines and asking whether stopping smoking could affect how they work. A useful question is: ‘These are the medicines I already take. Does my plan to stop smoking need any discussion with the person who prescribed them?’ Do not make your own adjustment from the answer to a general article.

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02

Ask for an explanation, then check what you understood

For an instruction you cannot follow, point to it: ‘I don't understand this part of the label. Can you show me what it means for this exact product?’ After the explanation, say it back in your own words: ‘Have I understood that correctly?’ Ask for written information if you need to look at it again later.

If cost or handling is your obstacle, name it: ‘I cannot manage this packaging,’ or ‘I need to understand the cost before deciding.’ Those are reasons to discuss the available options with the professional, not to copy someone else's medicine or improvise a different way of using it.

03

Leave with a contact route for the unfinished question

FDA's guide encourages asking whom to contact about further medicine questions and when the pharmacy can be reached. Ask: ‘Can this be clarified here, or does it need my prescriber? If you need to check first, how will I get the answer?’ An explanation at the counter is not necessarily a full assessment or a dedicated stop-smoking service.

Keep any medicine list or notes for your own use and the professional conversation. You do not need to publish them, enter them into this website or put them in an appointment link.

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04

What to keep in mind

• Identify the actual medicine and bring relevant existing-medicine information.
• Ask about one unclear instruction and check your understanding.
• Confirm who will answer an unresolved question before changing anything.