NIH Research Supports Smoking Cessation Assists with Addiction Recovery Process

Addiction comes in many forms. Tobacco is still one and can be part of a larger recovery process, according to a newly released National of Institutes (NIH) study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

“We now have strong evidence from a national sample that quitting cigarette smoking predicts improved recovery from other substance use disorders,” explained Nora Volkow, M.D., director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which partly funds the study, known as the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. “It underscores the importance of addressing different addictions together, rather than in isolation.”

The report found that adults, 18 years and older, who quit smoking as they sought remission from alcohol and/or substance use disorder, were more likely to achieve those goals if undertaken together. The PATH Study found that “former” cigarette smokers had a 42% greater likelihood to in recovery than non-tobacco users who combined efforts to end all their substance use addictions.

“Although the health benefits of quitting smoking are well-known, smoking cessation has not been seen as a high priority in drug addiction treatment programs,” said Wilson Compton, M.D., deputy director of NIDA and senior author of the study. “This finding bolsters support for including smoking cessation as part of addiction treatment.”

To learn more about the study’s findings, visit

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/quitting-smoking-associated-recovery-other-addictions