National strategy to reduce pharmaceutical drug misuse

A state police force, on behalf of the Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs (IGCD), engaged Nous to develop a business case for a national strategy to reduce diversion of prescription drugs.  This review of the benefits of a national prescription drug diversion strategy, as an alternative to a state-based approach, resulted from growing evidence of increasing harm from illicitly obtained pharmaceuticals.

To identify the harm from diversion of these drugs and assess the adequacy of existing strategies Nous (i) reviewed national and international literature on prescription drug issues and (ii) assessed current jurisdictional approaches to management of prescription pharmaceuticals.

Nous recommended a national strategy to reduce harm from pharmaceutical drug misuse. The strategy was recommended and endorsed by Ministers. The strategy was subsequently developed.