Assessing the utility of Project STOP in reducing pseudoephedrine diversion to clandestine laboratories / Jason Ferris, Madonna Devaney, Lorraine Mazerolle & Michelle Sparkes-Carroll.

Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 2016.

87176

Drug control -- Queensland.

Pharmacy management -- Queensland.

Project STOP, an online database in which pharmacists record sales of pseudoephedrine (PSE)-based medication, was implemented in 2005 to aid in reducing the diversion of PSE-based products for use as precursors in the domestic manufacture of methamphetamine. Australian evaluations of regulations governing the sale of PSE-based medications and the impact of Project STOP have so far been limited. This research explores the impact of the mandatory recording of PSE-based medication sales on PSE diversion and clan lab detection in Queensland. The findings show that Project STOP has demonstrated its utility for pharmacists in determining the legitimacy of requests for PSE-based medication, with 95 percent of Queensland pharmacies currently using it. When used consistently and appropriately, Project STOP reduces the amount of PSE-based medication leaving pharmacies for methamphetamine production. The research also highlights the challenges of attempting to curtail methamphetamine production in Australia and suggests new directions for research to better address these.

Title from title caption of PDF document (viewed on August 2, 2016).

"March 2016".

Includes bibliographical references.

1836-2206

1 online resource.