Search Results for 'Drug culture'

The Government’s crackdown on a range of psychoactive substances sold in head shops, which has resulted in many of these outlets closing, at least temporarily, may drive these businesses underground, the chairperson of the HSE West’s regional health forum has warned.

The future of two head shops in Kilkenny city remain uncertain following the introduction of new legislation banning a number of popular legal highs.

The future of two head shops in Kilkenny city remain uncertain following the introduction of new legislation banning a number of popular legal highs.

Recent debate on head shop substances and their effects came to a close during the week following an announcement by Minister for Health, Mary Harney, that an immediate ban on head shop substances will be put in place. The new law makes it illegal to sell or buy substances such as Mephedrone, also known as Snow or Blow, liquid ectasy, and Kettamine. The Learning Curve Institute’s highly topical one day workshop entitled Legal Highs -A description of the available head shops substances and their effects will take place in Athlone on May 2. The workshop will run from 9.30am to 4.30pm in the Hodson Bay Hotel.

Have ya ever seen the Government move as fast on anything as they did on the head shops. All it took were a few phone calls to Joe Duffy and you didn’t even have to be from Clontarrrrrrrrrrrfff Joe and hey presto, they’re introducing legislation that came into force, not tomorrow, but yesterday. That’s the type of Government ya need. Introducing laws so fast that they’re in force by the time you get to hear about them. All around the country on Tuesday morning, poor Hans and Jurgen and Johann with the funny hair who ran the head shops had to draw up “Closed Til Further Notice” notices so much on the hop they had been caught by our ultra quick fast reacting Government. Mary Harney, a woman who wouldn’t be in the FloJo league when it comes to turn of speed, had the laws in by the time that Hans and Johann and Jurgen had gone to bed, and by the time the dawn broke over the headshops and they looked through the hazy scene that was their lovenest, they were no more. And if Hans and Jurgen and Johann thought they were going to just shut up shop for a few days to give them time to change the name of the legal high to Ohjaysisthisisgreatdylhide, fast Mary had out-thought them on that too. She had the clear head, ya see. She wasn’t smokin’ any of that auld foreign shite. When she’s overseas, she doesn’t go into the brown cafes. No, she goes to the hairdressers and probably the nice muffin shop next door. She wrote into the law that any drugs that have their names changed and that the guards think are a bit funny can be deemed illegal as well, so now go away and put that in your pipe and smoke it, she told them, smug as anything. She might be leaving Granny for 72 hours on a shopping trolley in Casualty our Mary, but she put it to those foreigners with their head shops

Headshops and their presence in Kilkenny may well be a thing of the past if public opinion has anything to do with it. This weekend a protest will be held outside the two shops in the city with the public voicing their concerns about the products on sale legally in the stores.

Responding to the continuing national concerns and incidents around the issues of head shops and legal highs, the Learning Curve Institute has announced that its highly topical one day workshop entitled Legal Highs - A description of the available head shops substances and their effect - is now coming to the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone on Friday April 30.

The Castlebar Joint Policing Committee was told this week that the head shops were always one step ahead of legislation, despite public concerns. Castlebar Mayor Cllr Michael Kilcoyne asked town engineer Sean Higgins what the current situation was in relation to proceedings taken by the council on the issue. Mr Higgins informed the meeting that the council was in the process of investigating the planning history of the two head shops in the town, and had sent a warning letter to one shop.

The proposal by the Government to ban a range of substances sold in head shops by the end of June is too little too late, according to Labour councillor Harry Barrett.

The fact that only 30 odd people, including seven or eight local councillors, turned up to the head shop protest last week raises some important questions.