A new study exploring the use of a popular anti-smoking pill to help young people quit vaping is being hailed as "exciting" by Australian researchers.
The study, conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States and published by peer-reviewed journal JAMA, recruited more than 200 young people to test out the effectiveness of anti-smoking drug Varenicline on those who frequently vape.
Varenicline, commonly branded Chantix in Australia, is a prescription-only pill for adults that binds to nicotinic receptors in the brain, effectively blocking the pleasant effects of nicotine on the brain.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, it shouldn't be used as a person's only method of quitting smoking but in conjunction with other supports like behavioural therapy.
How does it work?
Researchers divided up 254 people aged between 16 and 25 years old who used e-cigarettes regularly into three groups.
All three groups had access to behavioural counselling and text message support.
Group one was given the Varenicline pill to take twice a day and group two was given a placebo.
Group three was only given access to the counselling and text support program.
Researchers found 51 per cent of group one weren't vaping at 12 weeks compared to 14 per cent in the group two.
Group one also continued to have higher rates of abstinence after 24 weeks.
Researchers said while there were signs of withdrawal and some side-effects, it appeared the pill helped people quit vaping over a near six-week period.
"Varenicline, when added to brief, remotely delivered behavioural counselling, is well-tolerated and promotes vaping cessation compared with placebo in youth with moderate to severe addiction to vaped nicotine," the report said.
The study used bio-verification to ensure participants were sticking to the experiment.
Researchers did acknowledge there were potential limitations based on how people interacted with the behavioural counselling aspect of the survey, and some of those surveyed had engaged in intermittent tobacco use before the experiment.
Why do we care?
There are about 1.63 million youths in the United States who currently use e-cigarettes regularly.
"To our knowledge, this is the first pharmacotherapy trial for nicotine vaping cessation in youth," the report said.
Researchers said finding effective treatment for nicotine addiction in young people was particularly important given recent evidence indicated it made them more likely to "rapidly transition" to having a substance abuse disorder.
It also increased their chances of smoking tobacco.
"Most youth who develop addiction to vaped nicotine have never regularly smoked tobacco and wish to quit vaping, highlighting the importance of these findings that an available pharmacotherapy is effective and well tolerated for vaping cessation in this population," the report said.
The federal health department found about 5 per cent of 12- to 17-year-olds vaped regularly, and more than 9 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds used e-cigarettes daily, according to a 2023 study.
University of Western Australia public health professor Jonine Jancey said recent legislation changes around vaping has restricted children's access to e-cigarettes.
"Although this is positive finding, we should not become complacent," she said.
Dr Jancey said while varenicline had proven to be effective, particularly for adults attempting to quit vapes, the jury was still out on whether the same approach would work for young people.
"Young Australians are different to the rest of the population in regards to their developmental factors, the unique ways they look at vaping, and their social and cultural contexts, which can influence their vaping behaviours and reasons to quit," she said.
"There is emerging evidence on the effectiveness of Varenicline to support over 18s to quit vapes but this medication has not proven to be effective in promoting long-term quitting in this group. "
University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health associate professor Emily Stockings said the research was exciting due to its targeting of young people.
"Varenicline is highly effective and safe for smoking cessation in adults, but there has not been enough evidence to support the use of it for youth under age 18," she said.
"This will be very welcome news to young people who are struggling with vaping dependence, and for clinicians who are grappling with how to address the very high levels of nicotine addiction in young people that don't seem to be responding to traditional treatments like nicotine replacement therapy."
Dr Stockings said further investigation needed to be done into how safe and effective varenicline is for young people before it can be prescribed in Australia.
She said it was also critical patients were offered behavioural supports in order to quit, and to not just rely on the drug.
"The earlier young kids can quit vaping, the easier it is, and the better it is for their long-term health," she said.
"If nicotine use goes untreated, nicotine dependence can develop, which can make it incredibly difficult to quit down the track."
The study was funded by National Institutes of Health grants, and it was peer-reviewed.
