Since the introduction of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, to the United States in 2006, intense debate has surrounded the marketing, regulation and use of these nicotine-delivery products. Surprising new research led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that adult smokers with no plans to quit are more likely to quit smoking traditional combustible cigarettes if they switch to daily vaping.

The Roswell Park study, published today in JAMA Network Open, used data collected from 2014 to 2019 as part of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a long-term study on tobacco use and how it affects the health of youth and adults in the United States.

When the researchers focused their analysis on a select group of 1,600 smokers who initially had no plans to quit and were not using e-cigarettes when the study began, they found that those who subsequently vaped daily experienced eightfold higher odds of quitting traditional cigarettes compared to those who didn't use e-cigarettes at all.

"These findings are paradigm-shifting, because the data suggest that vaping may actually help people who are not actively trying to quit smoking," says Andrew Hyland, Ph.D., Chair of Health Behavior at Roswell Park and scientific lead on the PATH Study. "Most other studies focus exclusively on people who are actively trying to quit smoking, but this study suggests that we may be missing effects of e-cigarettes by not considering this group of smokers with limited intention to stop smoking—a group that is often at the highest risk for poor health outcomes from cigarette smoking."

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