Smoking and Vaping in People With Substance Use Disorders
Should people with substance use disorders stop smoking cigarettes?
By Mark S Gold
Published by Psychology Today on September 7, 2025
Key points
• Many programs focused on alcoholism largely ignored tobacco.
• More people with addictions die from smoking-related causes than alcohol or their substance use disorders.
• Quitting and changing status from current to former smoker improves recovery from all addictions.
A major study of 2,652 adults with a substance use history in JAMA Psychiatry showed discontinuing smoking was strongly and positively associated with recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs). They also quantified the difference: Smoking discontinuation elevated the odds of substance abuse disorder (SUD) recovery by as much as 42 times, an impressive improvement..
