Let’s talk e-cigarettes, October 2025, episode 46

What this episode covers

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Justin Strickland, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Justin Strickland, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the October 2025 podcast Justin Strickland talks about his work on e-cigarette withdrawal syndrome presented at the 13th Annual Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Conference, held in Vermont, USA. Justin is a behavioural pharmacologist working with substance use and substance use disorder. His research applies behavioural economic methods to evaluate choice and decision-making mechanisms that may underlie substance use and identify targets for their reduction. Justin begins by describing behavioral economics and how our environment and context shape the decisions we make, for example, how the cost of goods can influence patterns of consumption. As a relatively new class of products less is known about e-cigarette withdrawal than tobacco withdrawal syndrome. Justin describes his ongoing study of e-cigarette withdrawal syndrome among people who have exclusively used e-cigarettes. Participants stay in a residential unit for one week, where their behaviour, physiology and other measures, including their nicotine clearance, are measured. Preliminary findings indicate that participants do experience withdrawal to e-cigarettes, for example cravings that reduce over time. Looking to the future he calls for longer-term trials to observe behaviour and to explore predictors of complete cessation. Such research could inform the development of more effective behavioral interventions or pharmacological treatments to support individuals experiencing e-cigarette withdrawal. This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and Interventions for quitting vaping review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches. Our searches for the EC for smoking cessation review carried out on 1st October 2025 found: 1 new study (10.18332/852498tivblr); 2 ongoing new studies (ISRCTN12504090, 10.1177/29768357251337050); and 4 linked reports (10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108414, 10.1037/pha0000803, 10.1093/ntr/ntaf200, 10.1101/2024.06.21.24309282). Our search for our interventions for quitting vaping review carried out 1st October 2025 found: 1 new ongoing study (10.3389/fpubh.2025.1618341). For further details see our webpage under 'Monthly search findings': https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1 For more information on the full Cochrane review of E-cigarettes for smoking cessation updated in January 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub9/full For more information on the full Cochrane review of Interventions for quitting vaping published in January 2025 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016058.pub2/full This podcast is supported by Cancer Research UK.

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