Project Stop Mandated in South Austral

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomes the decision of the South Australian Government to mandate the use of the Guild’s high-tech weapon against ‘pseudo runners’ – Project STOP.

From 1 July 2011, Project STOP will replace the current largely paper-based version. Currently around 60 per cent of the State’s pharmacies use Project STOP. This decision will help close any potential gaps that may be exploited by pseudo runners.

By taking this step, South Australia joins Queensland and Western Australia in requiring the use of electronic real time recording of pseudoephedrine products. The Guild believes other States and Territories should follow suit.

Project STOP assists pharmacists to make decisions about whether a particular sale of a cold and flu medicine containing pseudoephedrine is legitimate. It is a proven aid in the fight against the diversion of pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamines (also known as ‘speed’ or ‘ice’).

Project STOP has been available to community pharmacies nationally since August 2007 and in Queensland, where it was developed, since November 2005. Since the system went online in 2005 pharmacists have denied sales on tens of thousands of occasions. It has actively discouraged criminal elements from attempting to get access to the products via pharmacy.

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