Overview

• The peer-reviewed analysis, published in JAMA Psychiatry, followed 2,652 US adults in the NIH- and FDA-funded PATH Study over four years.
• Participants who transitioned from current to former cigarette use had 42% greater odds of sustaining remission from non-tobacco substance use disorders.
• Study authors and NIDA leadership say the results bolster support for making smoking cessation a core component of addiction recovery programs.
• Researchers adjusted for numerous confounding factors to enhance confidence in generalizability while noting that longitudinal association does not prove causation.
• Officials call for further research on causal pathways and on designing effective tobacco cessation supports for people in treatment or recovery.