Guild urges more of STOP
August 29, 2011
NATIONAL Guild president Kos
Sclavos says it’s time to “renew
pressure on NSW and Victoria to
make Project STOP compulsory”.
He made the comments following
a presentation by WA Police
Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan at a
Guild forum in Perth on Friday.
O’Callaghan said that while 133
addiction-based sites had been
discovered by WA police so far this
year, the size of illegal drug “cooks”
was becoming smaller due to the
increasing difficulty of acquiring
pseudoephedrine.
The majority of sites were using
pharmacy-bought pseudoephedrine,
with the remainder of the illicit
supplies stolen or imported.
“Project STOP helps us identify
high use customers and persons of
interest,” said Mr O’Callaghan,
who thanked pharmacists and the
Guild for their assistance.
Surprisingly, O’Callaghan, who
has previously called for PSE
products to become prescriptiononly,
told delegates that a schedule
shift is “not necessarily the solution”.
Instead he advocated the
exploration of other options and
solutions with community
pharmacists, stakeholders and law
makers, with the WA Guild to be
actively involved in the issue.
Sclavos welcomed O’Callaghan’s
constructive approach, saying “the
important thing is to work with law
enforcement authorities to tackle
this problem while at the same
time maintaining the availability of
an important medicine for the
overwhelming majority of
Australians who use it appropriately.
“Making these products
prescription only would be an
unnecessary burden on the health
system and a drain on precious
health budget dollars,” he added.
He said that it was time State and
Federal law enforcement and
health authorities contributed to
the costs of Project Stop “so that
ongoing improvements can be
made to ensure we stay one step
ahead of the criminals”.
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