TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Pharmaceutical sales of pseudoephedrine: the impact of electronic tracking systems on methamphetamine crime incidents
JO  - Addiction
A1  - Mazerolle, Lorraine
A1  - McGuffog, Ingrid
A1  - Ferris, Jason
A1  - Chamlin, Mitchell B.
SP  - 468
EP  - 474
VL  - 112
IS  - 3
N2  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Electronic Tracking Systems (ETS) are used extensively in pharmacies across the US and Australia to control suspicious sales of pseudoephedrine. This study measures the impact of one ETS - Project STOP - on the capacity of police to reduce production, supply and possession of methamphetamine. <br><br>DESIGN: Using official police data of incidents of production, supply and possession from January 1996 to December 2011 (N = 192 data points/months over 16 years), we used a quasi-experimental, time series approach. SETTING: The State of Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: No individual participants are included in the study. The unit of analysis is reported police incidents. MEASUREMENTS: The study examines the impact of the ETS on production (N = 5,938 incidents), drug supply and trafficking (N = 20,094 incidents) and drug possession or use (N = 118,926) of methamphetamine. <br><br>FINDINGS: Introduction of the ETS in November 2005 was associated with an insignificant decrease (p = 0.15) in the production of methamphetamine. The intervention was associated with a statistically significant increase in supply incidents (p = 0.0001). There was no statistically significant effect on the incidence of possession (p = 0.59). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Electronic tracking systems can reduce the capacity of people to produce methamphetamine domestically but seem unlikely to affect other aspects of the methamphetamine problem such as possession, distribution, and importation.<br><br>This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0965-2140
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.13648
ID  - ref1
ER  -