Gilbody S, et al. - Researchers conducted the smoking cessation intervention for severe mental illness (SCIMITAR+) trial, a pragmatic, randomized controlled study, with the aim to examine if a targeted behavioral and pharmacological smoking cessation intervention is effective in for people with severe mental illness. Heavy smokers with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia from 16 primary care and 21 community-based mental health sites in the UK were recruited. They randomly assigned 526 eligible patients to the bespoke smoking cessation intervention (n=265) or usual care (n=261). The proportion of participants who quit at 6 months was significantly higher in the intervention group vs the usual care group; at 12 months the proportion of those who quit was also higher in the intervention group, but non-significantly. Findings suggest that for clinicians and policy makers, this bespoke intervention is a candidate model of smoking cessation addressing the high prevalence of smoking. The incidence of quitting at 6 months suggests the possibility of achieving smoking cessation. However, by 12 months this effect waned, indicating the necessity for more effort for sustained quitting.