Addiction and Drug Policy and Public Health Special Interest Group

This group is for members of the PublicHealth@Cambridge network and other researchers who are interested in topics relating to substance-related use disorders, including but not limited to:

• epidemiology and surveillance;
• health services and outcomes research;
• legal and regulatory approaches;
• health economics, policy, and technology assessment;
• health governance and systems research;
• policy evaluation and analysis; and
• sociology and anthropology of substance use disorders.             

This group aims to provide a forum for all researchers and practitioners with an interest in substance-related use disorders for networking and collaboration. Members of the group specialise in interdisciplinary approaches to issues of substance-related use disorders with interests at the local, national, and international levels.

Everyone with an interest in substance-related use disorders is invited to join by contacting Dr. Andres Roman-Urrestarazu (aer56@medschl.cam.ac.uk) in the first instance.

Current Collaborations

• Maastricht University
• University of Hertfordshire
• University College London

Recent Publications

Yang, J.C., Roman-Urrestarazu, A., McKee, M., & Brayne, C. (2019). Demographic, socioeconomic, and health correlates of unmet need for mental health treatment in the United States, 2002–16: evidence from the national surveys on drug use and health. IJEH, 18(122). doi:10.1186/s12939-019-1026-y

Yang, J.C., Roman-Urrestarazu, A., & Brayne, C. (2019). Differences in receipt of opioid agonist treatment and time to enter treatment for opioid use disorder among specialty addiction programs in the United States, 2014-17. PLoS One, 14(12): e0226349. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226349

Rosner, B., Neicun, J., Yang, J.C., & Roman-Urrestarazu, A. (2019). Opioid prescription patterns in Germany and the global opioid epidemic: Systematic review of available evidence. PLOS One, 14(8): e0221153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221153

Neicun, J., Steenhuizen, M., van Kessel, R., Yang, J.C., Negri, A., Czabanowska, K., Corazza, O., & Roman-Urrestarazu, A. (2019) Mapping novel psychoactive substances policy in the EU: The case of Portugal, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, the United Kingdom and Sweden. PLOS One, 14(6):  e0218011. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218011

Roman-Urrestarazu, A., Robertson, R., Yang, J., McCallum, A., Gray, C., McKee, M., & Middleton, J. (2018). European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has a vital role in the UK’s ability to respond to illicit drugs and organised crime. BMJ, 362.

Corazza, O. (Ed.), Roman-Urrestarazu, A. (Ed.). (2018). Handbook of Novel Psychoactive Substances. New York: Routledge.

Yang, J. C., Roman-Urrestarazu, A., & Brayne, C. (2018). Binge alcohol and substance use across birth cohorts and the global financial crisis in the United States. PLoS One, 13(6), e0199741. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0199741

Future Plans

• Journal club
• Interdisciplinary workshops
• Meetings with policymakers
• Joint grant applications
• Collaborative publications

Current Academic Leads

Dr  Andres Roman-Urrestarazu (aer56@medschl.cam.ac.uk), Department of Public Health and Primary Care

Mr  Justin Christopher Yang (jcy25@medschl.cam.ac.uk), Department of Public Health and Primary Care

Dr Anne-Laure Van Harmelen (av391@medschl.cam.ac.uk), Department of Psychiatry 

Dr Justin Christopher Yang, (justin.yang@ucl.ac.uk), Department of Epidemiology and Applied Clinical Research, Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London