Personal profile
Research interests
Tom Freeman is the Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group, an interdisciplinary research group bridging Psychology, Life Sciences, Health, Management, and the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath. He is internationally known for his research on cannabis and cannabinoids. This includes observational studies characterising changes in cannabis products and their association with addiction and mental health outcomes, novel harm reduction strategies such as the standard THC unit (similar to the standard alcohol unit), the potential of cannabidiol to influence the effects of cannabis, and clinical trials of cannabidiol as a treatment for cannabis use disorder. He is currently funded by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. In addition to this he leads the Substance Use and Addiction workpackage of the NIHR Bath Mental Health Research Group, and is deputy lead of the Drugs theme of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions. His research has generated impacts with the US National Institutes of Health Research, the European Union Drugs Agency, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Bath NIHR Mental Health Research Group
Jacobsen, P. (PI), Betts, J. (CoI), Brown, C. (CoI), Button, K. (CoI), Fairchild, G. (CoI), Freeman, T. (CoI), Halligan, S. (CoI), Hines, L. (CoI), Lambert, J. (CoI), Loades, M. (CoI), Russell, A. (CoI), Stallard, P. (CoI), Sunderland, P. (CoI) & Taylor, E. (CoI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/01/25 → 31/12/29
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Wadsworth SSA Fellowship - cannabis use in the UK
Freeman, T. (PI) & Wadsworth, E. (Researcher)
Society for the Study of Addiction
25/10/24 → 18/03/28
Project: UK charity
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Co-occurrence of antisocial behaviour and substance use from adolescence to early adulthood
Deng, J. (PI), Allen, J. (PI), Freeman, T. (CoI), Hammerton, G. (CoI) & Şimşek, Ö. (CoI)
1/10/24 → 31/03/28
Project: Research council
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FLF Reducing cannabis harms through evidence-based drug policy
Freeman, T. (PI), Hines, L. (CoI), Husbands, S. (CoI), Pryer, T. (CoI), Pudney, C. (CoI), Sunderland, P. (CoI), Ehrhardt, B. (Researcher) & Lees Thorne, R. (Researcher)
1/10/24 → 30/09/28
Project: Research council
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AIM engagement funding
Freeman, T. (PI) & Hines, L. (CoI)
Society for the Study of Addiction
1/09/24 → 1/09/27
Project: UK charity
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Associations between cannabis use, tobacco use and co-use with brain volume: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sawyer, K., Freeman, T., Skumlien, M., Walton, E., Lancaster, T., Treur, J., Lorenzetti, V., Blackwell, A., Burke, C., Constantinides, C., Cox , M., Carr, R., Dance, S., Daryan, S., Hamilton, S., Jenkins, T. & Taylor, G., 22 Jan 2026, (Acceptance date) In: Addiction.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Attentional bias in people with moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder
Quinones-Valera, M., Chan, G., Fraser, M. I., Jones, A., Freeman, T. P., Hindocha, C., Thomson, H., McTavish, E., Sehl, H., Clemente, A., Cousijn, J., Labuschagne, I., Rendell, P., Terrett, G., Greenwood, L. M., Poudel, G., Suo, C., Manning, V. & Lorenzetti, V., 31 Mar 2026, In: Comprehensive Psychiatry. 146, 152658.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Changes in international cannabis policies and their association with cannabis use, cannabis use disorder and other psychiatric disorders
Freeman, T., Lees Thorne, R., Wadsworth, E., Carney, T., Castillo-Carniglia, A., Cerdá, M., Kalayasiri, R., Kilmer, B., Lorenzetti, V., Manthey, J., Myran, D., Rivera Aguirre , A., Rychert, M., Wilson, J., Yimer, T. & Hall, W., 11 Mar 2026, (Acceptance date) In: The Lancet Psychiatry.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) units
Lees Thorne, R., Lawn, W., Petrilli, K., Trinci, K., Borissova, A., Ofori, S., Mokrysz, C., Curran, H. V., Hines, L. A. & Freeman, T. P., 12 Jan 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Addiction.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (SciVal) -
Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology
Sinclair, J. M. A., Kalk, N. J., Kaar, S. J., Agabio, R., Arunogiri, S., Bisaga, A., Chesney, E., Daly, C., Dewhurst, J., Freeman, T. P., Ghosh, A., Hemrage, S., Leggio, L., Lingford-Hughes, A., Matheson, C., McKetin, R., Paterson, L. M., Roberts, E., Robson, D. & Scott, J. & 1 others, , 23 Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Psychopharmacology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Dataset for "What is the effect of presenting evidence of the mental vs physical health benefits of quitting smoking on motivation to stop smoking? An online randomised controlled experiment"
Sawyer, K. (Creator), Hanafi, A. (Creator), Freeman, T. (Creator), Burke, C. (Creator), Adams, S. (Creator), Aveyard, P. (Creator), Jacobsen, P. (Creator) & Taylor, G. (Creator), University of Bath, 3 Jul 2025
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-01424
Dataset
Prizes
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Royal Society of Chemistry's Analytical Science Horizon Prize: Sir George Stokes Prize
Andrews, R. (Recipient), Blagbrough, I. (Recipient), Bowden, C. (Recipient), Bowman, R. (Recipient), Burnett, N. (Recipient), Carbery, D. (Recipient), Collins, P. (Recipient), Costello, A. (Recipient), Cozier, G. (Recipient), Craft, S. (Recipient), Crespo-Otero, R. (Recipient), Elkins, D. (Recipient), Freeman, T. (Recipient), Frinculescu, A. (Recipient), Gardner, M. (Recipient), Grayson, M. (Recipient), Fincham Haines, T. (Recipient), Hernandez, F. (Recipient), Husbands, S. (Recipient), Kumar, R. (Recipient), Leach, J. (Recipient), Lewis, S. (Recipient), Manley, A. (Recipient), Manzoor, S. (Recipient), May, B. (Recipient), Power, A. (Recipient), Pudney, C. (Recipient), Rodgers, C. (Recipient), Scott, J. (Recipient), Shine, T. (Recipient), Skumlien, M. (Recipient), Sunderland, P. (Recipient), Sutcliffe, O. (Recipient), Tooth, T. (Recipient) & Townsend, P. (Recipient), 25 Jun 2025
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Psychopharmacology award (senior)
Freeman, T. (Recipient), 21 Jul 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
- 2 Editorial activity
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Addiction (Journal)
Freeman, T. (Editor)
15 Jul 2021Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Editorial activity
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Addiction (Journal)
Freeman, T. (Associate editor)
17 Jan 2020Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Editorial activity