April 23, 2025 – If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of young people trying to quit vaping, here's some good news: New research reveals the strategies that work – and can help you quit for good.
Using three tools instead of one can boost your odds of success by as much as tenfold, according to a compelling new study published today in TheJournal of the American Medical Association.
It marks the first clinical trial to examine how well medication works at helping youths quit nicotine vaping. The medicine worked so well, it surprised even the researchers, who went as far as testing the saliva of people in the study to ensure they were nicotine-free.
The drug in the study is called varenicline, commonly known by the brand name Chantix and already approved to help people quit tobacco smoking. The usual treatment that's used to stop youths from vaping is counseling.
But adding medication and a supportive text messaging app helped more than half of people ages 16 to 25 quit, the study found.
"This trial makes it clear that people who try medication with behavioral support will have over three-fold higher odds of successfully quitting" – compared to those who use counseling and the app alone, said study author Eden Evins, MD, MPH, founding director of the Mass General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. When compared to using the app alone, the combination of medication, counseling, and app support boosted success by nearly tenfold. Truth Initiative was the app used in the study, Evins said.
After 12 weeks, 51% of people in the study who took varenicline – along with receiving weekly counseling via Zoom and using the support app – had successfully quit vaping. At six months, 28% were still vape-free, even after stopping the medication at the 12-week mark.
By comparison, only 14% of those taking a placebo pill (with the same counseling and app support) had quit at 12 weeks, dwindling to 7% at six months. A third group that relied only on the app saw results similar to the placebo group.
Why It Matters
For young people, quitting can be especially complicated because they don't want their parents to know that they vape.
"Quite a few 17-year-olds wanted to participate in this study, but when informed their parents would also need to agree, decided to wait until they turned 18 and could enroll without parental consent," said Evins.
Finding an effective treatment for youths is particularly important because once a young person is addicted to nicotine, something called "neurobiologic priming" kicks in – a process that can make them more likely to have other addictions, such as opioids or cocaine.
More than 1.6 million youths say they vape, and more than half say they want to quit, Evins and her colleagues noted.
What's It Like to Take Varenicline?
Varenicline directly affects the part of the brain responsible for nicotine addiction.
"As a partial agonist that binds tightly to the receptor, varenicline both reduces nicotine withdrawal symptoms and prevents the experience of reward," Evins said.
People in the study took a pill twice daily for 12 weeks, although during the first week, the dosage is slowly increased. Reported side effects were similar in both the experimental and placebo groups.
Evins explained that people taking varenicline can expect a few common effects:
- Less satisfaction from vaping. If you do slip up and try to vape, it won't feel rewarding – making you less likely to fall back into old habits.
- Mild to moderate nausea. That doesn't involve vomiting, but can feel uncomfortable. It's usually tolerable.
- Headaches and vivid dreams. These are also sometimes reported.
Keys to Success
First off, if you want to quit, talk to your doctor or school health professional, Evins said. Remember:
- Three is better than one. The people in this study saw the best results with three tools: medication, counseling over Zoom, and the free Truth Initiative app that sends text messages.
- You may relapse. That's normal and OK. Quitting is a process, not a switch.
- Don't be afraid to try again. Some people may need to restart the medication for a while to help get back on track, Evins said.
"I would hope that people feel they deserve three- to 10-fold higher chance for success, so I would strongly recommend they start with varenicline plus behavioral support for vaping cessation," Evins said. "The sooner, the better."
