Smart vapes with financial rewards may raise addiction risks
Researchers warn that smart vaping devices offering cryptocurrency rewards may increase addiction risks and undermine smoking cessation efforts.Summary
Researchers at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center have published a perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine warning that new smart vaping devices offering cryptocurrency and other financial rewards for vaping behavior could increase addiction risks. The paper examines two products: Puffpaw, a nicotine vaping device marketed as a cessation aid, and Gudtrip, a cannabis vaping device, both of which connect to smartphone apps and track user behavior through gamification and artificial intelligence. These devices reward continued vaping use rather than abstinence, creating self-sustaining systems where earned points can be redeemed for cryptocurrency or refill cartridges. The researchers express particular concern about the products' appeal to adolescents and young adults—whose developing brains are highly sensitive to rewarding experiences—as well as financially vulnerable individuals and people with substance use disorders. They also highlight significant regulatory gaps: neither product has received FDA authorization, cannabis products lack consistent federal oversight, and regulation has not kept pace with rapidly evolving vaping technologies. While not opposing harm reduction strategies or technological innovation for smoking cessation, the team urges regulators to review vape-to-earn products carefully and calls for policies that address the intersection of emerging technologies, financial incentives, and addictive substances.
(Source：News-Medical)
