As e-cigarettes become the dominant form of tobacco use, how can we help e-cigarette users who want to quit?

In this session, Prof Benjamin Toll will present recently published nationally representative data from the US FDA Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study showing that since 2013 in the key demographic of 18-24 year-olds, rates of combusted cigarette use have been falling and rates of e-cigarette use have been rising, such that now 14.5% use e-cigarettes, compared with only 6.1% who use combustible cigarettes. Moreover, more than half of these young adults who use e-cigarettes have never smoked. This age group of young adults (age 18-24) has historically been important to the tobacco industry as a time when tobacco users often transition to established use and brand loyalty, and these data may forecast a future in which e-cigarettes are the dominant tobacco product in the US. Importantly, we have shown in published papers that over 60% of all e-cigarette users in the US express (in responses reported in Waves 4 and 5 of the PATH study) that they plan to quit vaping. A recent systematic review from our group shows that there are almost no studies of e-cigarette treatment to assist the many e-cigarette users who plan to quit. We will present several pilot clinical trials investigating dual nicotine replacement therapy, high dose dual nicotine replacement therapy, and varenicline tartrate for the treatment of e-cigarette use.