Membership
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-04)

Details of the council's committees and latest meeting minutes.

There are currently 27 members of the advisory council.

Membership

Appointments (usually for a term of 3 years) are ordinarily made by the Home Secretary, in accordance with guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. According to this guidance, members can serve a maximum period of 10 years, although no member can be reappointed unless they have received a satisfactory performance appraisal.

Member biographies

ACMD member biographies (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advisory-council-on-the-misuse-of-drugs-member-biographies)

Members’ register of interests

The register of interests for members (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/members-register-of-interests) of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) lists their occupations, the organisations they work for and the nature of any interests they might have.

Chair

Professor Owen Bowden-Jones, consultant in addiction psychiatry and Honorary Professor at University College London.

Members
- Professor Judith Aldridge, Professor of Criminology at University of Manchester
- Professor Owen Bowden-Jones, Consultant Psychiatrist, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Professor Anne Campbell MBE, Professor in Substance Use at Queen’s University Belfast School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work
- Dr Caroline Copeland, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology, King’s College London. Director, National Programme on Substance Use Mortality
- Professor Colin Davidson, Professor of Neuropharmacology, University of Central Lancashire
- Professor Karen Ersche, Professor of Addiction Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
- Mr Mohammed Fessal, Chief Pharmacist for Change Grow Live
- Professor Amira Guirguis, Professor of Pharmacy, MPharm Programme Director at Swansea University Medical School
- Dr Hilary Hamnett, Associate Professor in Forensic Science and Forensic Toxicologist at the University of Lincoln
- Mr Jason Harwin, Director and Co-founder of E-T-E Solutions Limited
- Professor Graeme Henderson, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Bristol
- Professor Katy Holloway, Professor of Criminology, University of South Wales
- Dr Carole Hunter, Retired. Chair SDF Board. Doping Control Officer UK Antidoping
- Professor Stephen Husbands, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Bath
- Professor Sunjeev Kamboj, Professor of Translational Clinical Psychology Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London
- Professor Roger Knaggs, Professor of Pain Management, University of Nottingham. Specialist Pharmacist in Pain Management, Primary Integrated Community Services
- Mrs Sapna Lewis, Senior Lawyer, Welsh Government Legal Services Department
- Dr Lorna Nisbet, BSc (Hons.), MSc, PhD, PGCert, FHEA, CChem Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator for Forensic Toxicology at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, University of Dundee
- Mr Jon Privett, Detective Sergeant, Metropolitan Police Service
- Mrs Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE, Director and Founder, Daniel Sargo-Mabbs Foundation. Chair, Drug Education Forum
- Dr Richard Stevenson, Emergency Medicine Consultant at Glasgow Royal Infirmary
- Professor Paul Stokes, Professor of Mood Disorders and Psychopharmacology, King’s College London
- Professor Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)
- Professor Simon Thomas BSc MD FRCP, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Newcastle University
- Professor Derek Tracy, Chief Medical Officer, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Ms Rosalie Weetman, Group Manager (Public Health Principal) Inclusion Public Health at Derbyshire County Council
- Dr David Wood, MD, FRCP, FEAPCCT, FACMT, FBPhS, FAACT Consultant Physician and Clinical Toxicologist, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust and Honorary Reader, King’s College London
Committees

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has 4 committees.

Recovery committee

Chair: Professor Anne Campbell

The recovery committee is a standing committee of the ACMD, formed in 2011 to support the ACMD to advise the government on how people can best be supported to recover from dependence on drugs and alcohol.

The recovery committee is comprised of ACMD members with an interest or expertise in aspects of drug and alcohol recovery, supplemented by additional co-opted experts in aspects of recovery.

Technical committee

Chair: Professor Roger Knaggs

The technical committee is a standing committee of the ACMD. Its primary purpose is to provide technical advice on classification and scheduling of substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and its regulations.

For example, the committee is consulted on the measures necessary to ensure a controlled drug is not diverted from legitimate medical purposes.

Novel psychoactive substances committee

Chair: Professor Simon Thomas

The novel psychoactive substances committee was set up in response to the emergence of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) that have rapidly and significantly changed the drug scene.

The committee aims to monitor the prevalence and harms of NPS and where appropriate provide advice on this to government.

Prevention committee

Chair: Professor Owen Bowden-Jones

The prevention committee is the newest standing committee of the ACMD. The committee was formed in 2023, following the publication of the ACMD Prevention Report in 2022 and in response to an increasing demand for work around prevention.

The committee considers advice on preventing drug use among vulnerable groups of people and how those groups can be prevented both from first using and developing dependence on drugs.

Minutes
- Open session minutes, 24 November 2015 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80c816e5274a2e8ab5221f/Open_session-_November_2015.pdf) (PDF, 23.8 KB, 2 pages)
- Open session minutes, 2 July 2015 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8045df40f0b62302692891/Open_session_-_2_July_2015.pdf) (PDF, 37.3 KB, 4 pages)
- Open session minutes, 25 September 2014 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f5300e5274a2e87db5288/Open_session_-_September_2014.pdf) (PDF, 36.9 KB, 6 pages)
- Open session minutes, 11 April 2014 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a801b5840f0b62305b89365/Open_session_-_11_April_2014.pdf) (PDF, 45 KB, 5 pages)