About the Authors

Jim McCambridge

Jim.McCambridge@york.ac.uk

Affiliation Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

Kypros Kypri

Affiliation Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

Colin Drummond

Affiliation King's College London, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom

John Strang

Affiliation King's College London, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

There are no competing interests to declare for JMC, KK, and CD. JS leads the Addictions academic activity of the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, which includes conduct of diverse research studies and provision of educational activity in the Addictions. JS is also in a leadership position for the Addictions clinical activity of the South London & Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust, which provides treatments in the drug, alcohol, and smoking cessation fields. JS has received project grant support and/or honoraria and/or consultancy payments from Department of Health, NTA (National Treatment Agency), PHE (Public Health England), Home Office, and NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). JS has worked with WHO (World Health Organisation) and with UNODC (United Nations Office for Drug Control) and other international government agencies. Has also received research grant support and/or payment in the form of honoraria, consultancy payments, and/or traveling and/or accommodation and/or conference expenses from pharmaceutical companies who produce, or have been considering producing, new medicines for use in the addiction treatment field, including (past 3 years): Genus (Britannia), Viropharma (Auralis), Martindale (Catalent), Reckitt-Benckiser, Schering-Plough, Lundbeck, UCB, Napp, MundiPharma, Alkermes, Teva, and also discussions with Lightlake, Lanacher, Fidelity International, and Rusan/iGen. JS works closely with the charity Action on Addiction, and also with the J Paul Getty Charitable Trust (JPGT) and the Pilgrim Trust, and has received grant support from them. JS has previous close links with charitable-funded providers, including Lifeline (Manchester), Phoenix House, KCA UK (Kent Council on Addictions), and Clouds (Action on Addiction). JS works (or has recently worked) with various drug policy organisations and advisory bodies including the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA), and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

Author Contributions

Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: JMC. Wrote the paper: JMC KK CD JS. ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: JMC KK CD JS. Agree with manuscript results and conclusions: JMC KK CD JS.