Research & Resources

This study assessed the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking reduction and cessation among young adults. Over a 1-month period, participants (young adults ages 18–25) reported past-month e-cigarette use with nicotine or tetrahydrocannabinol, past-week cigarette quantity, quit attempts, and cessation strategies—including nicotine e-cigarettes. More than 70 percent of participants who reported past-month nicotine e-cigarette use also smoked cigarettes (i.e., dual use). Neither past-month nicotine nor tetrahydrocannabinol e-cigarette use was associated with smoking reduction or cessation. Use of nicotine e-cigarettes as a cessation strategy among participants attempting to quit was positively associated with abstinence and a reduction in the number of cigarettes per week by 50 percent or more from baseline relative to other strategies. Findings indicated that dual use may not be an effective path to achieve smoking cessation. 

This paper, “The Relationship of E-Cigarette Use to Tobacco Use Outcomes among Young Adults Who Smoke and Use Alcohol,” was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and published in the Journal of addiction medicine.