BACKGROUND: Smoking among adults in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs is common with limited success in quitting. Given e-cigarettes’ potential for smoking harm reduction, it is important to examine e-cigarette use among people in SUD treatment.
METHODS: We analyzed data from adults who have received SUD treatment in the past year, from the 2020–2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 1,246). We delineated correlates of lifetime and current (past-month) use e-cigarette use.
RESULTS: Among adults receiving SUD treatment, an estimated 39.4 % (95 % CI: 34.1, 45.1) have used e-cigarettes in their lifetime and 19.5 % (95 % CI: 16.1, 23.6) of those currently vape. Among those reporting current vaping, an estimated 57.3 % (95 % CI: 44.9–68.8) currently smoke cigarettes and half (54.2 % [95 % CI: 41.1–66.7]) currently use cannabis. Compared to those who only received treatment for alcohol use disorder, those receiving treatment for drug use (aPR = 1.47, 95 % CI: 1.09–1.99) and alcohol and drug use (aPR = 1.60, 95 % CI: 1.16–2.22) had higher prevalence of lifetime e-cigarette use, and those reporting treatment for drug use only (aPR = 2.60, 95 % CI: 1.52–4.46) and alcohol and drug use (aPR = 2.82, 95 % CI: 1.63–4.87) also had higher prevalence of current e-cigarette use.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of e-cigarette use was higher among those in treatment for both drug or alcohol and drugs only than those receiving treatment for only alcohol use. Smoking harm reduction interventions can potentially include e-cigarette among those receiving drug treatment. There is also a need to address challenges of dual e-cigarette and cigarette use, as well as dual e-cigarette use with cannabis.
E-cigarette use among a national sample of adults receiving substance use treatment in the United States
Addictive Behaviors, 166, 108314. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108314. PMCID: PMC11968208.