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Events • November 17, 2023 

# Let Pharmacists Prescribe 

Pharmacists have sufficient training to autonomously prescribe medications to prevent or treat many medical conditions. But states generally require patients to obtain a doctor’s prescription before purchasing pharmaceuticals. This restriction drives up health care costs and unnecessarily inconveniences patients, often when they are in distress. Canadian provinces, by contrast, give pharmacists a wide scope for prescribing pharmaceuticals, as Ross Tsuyuki will discuss. Alex Adams will explain recent pharmacist scope of practice reform in Idaho, Colorado, and Montana; Marc Joffe will provide an overview of relevant federal and state policies; and Dr. Jeffrey Singer will offer policy recommendations that could improve the patient experience while reducing health care costs.

## Additional Resources

- “[Idaho Leads the Nation Toward Expanding Pharmacists’ Scope of Practice](https://www.cato.org/blog/idaho-leads-nation-toward-expanding-pharmacists-scope-practice),” by Marc Joffe

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Ross Tsuyuki](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-10/ross-tsuyuki.png?itok=YtMa5dW9) 

##### Ross Tsuyuki 

Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta

[ 

](https://twitter.com/Ross_Tsuyuki) 

![Alex J. Adams circle](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-08/alex-j-adams-modified.png?itok=FXjZKBB7) 

##### Alex J. Adams 

Assistant Secretary for Family Support, US Department of Health and Human Services

[ 

](https://twitter.com/AlexAdamsRPh) 

[![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) 

##### [Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/dr4liberty) [ 

](mailto:jsinger@cato.org) 

[![Marc Joffe - cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/marc-joffe-cropped.jpg?itok=Rfc77mug)](/people/marc-joffe) 

##### [Marc Joffe](/people/marc-joffe)

Former Federalism and State Policy Analyst, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/joffemd) [ 

](mailto:mjoffe@cato.org)