Description

Participants in this randomized clinical trial will be methadone-maintained smokers interested in switching to electronic cigarettes (ECs). There will be a total of 7 study visits over the course of 6 weeks: baseline, 5 weekly check-in (CI) visits, and a 6-week assessment. Baseline assessments will include biomarker measurement, carbon monoxide (CO) readings, smoking history and current cigarette use, spirometry, respiratory symptoms, and tobacco demand. After completion of the baseline visit, participants will be randomized to either: 1) 6 weeks of EC use (JUUL 5% nicotine pods) or 2) 6 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the form of nicotine lozenges. EC and NRT use will begin the day after the baseline assessment.

All participants will attend weekly brief assessment check-in visits where distribution of either EC or NRT will occur. Check-in assessments will include cigarette use, EC use, NRT use, CO readings, respiratory symptoms, and tobacco demand. At the 6-week assessment, baseline measurements will be repeated to determine changes in the health effects, biomarkers, and combustible cigarette use associated with 6 weeks of EC use, relative to NRT.

This study will be the first to test the potential behavioral and health effects of ECs in smokers with opioid use disorder, a population that is highly dependent on nicotine, highly vulnerable to smoking-related morbidity and mortality, and searching for novel methods to lower smoking-related risks.