Minister may seek ‘legal drugs’ ban

THE Minister for Drugs has signalled he will use legislation to curb the sale of legal drugs currently being sold in alternative lifestyle shops.

Speaking at a Regional Drugs Task Forces conference on legal highs in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, the minister said instead of trying to license them, he wanted to ban them as they were posing an unnecessary risk to public health.

Speaking to some 300 delegates, John Curran said no EU country has yet come up a comprehensive solution to the issue.

He said he had asked the National Advisory Committee on Drugs to carry out some research in the area, and to advise him on whether legislation similar to that recently introduced in Britain could be introduced in Ireland in the short-term. The minister said his concerns arose from the potential health hazards arising from the products and the possibility that their use could act as a gateway to the use of illicit drugs.

He said he was also worried that because a number of substances had been banned in Britain in December, Ireland could becoming a “dumping ground” for them.

In recent months, dozens of the shops – which sell products which have similar effects to cocaine and ecstasy – have opened and it is thought there may be up to 100 around the country.

Again yesterday, Joe Duffy’s Liveline featured calls from concerned parents stating teenagers were being adversely affected by the legal drugs. One parent said her son told her his friend had broken a bottle and tried to eat the glass after taking the drugs and another said his nephew had defecated in his front living room.

Parents and anti-drug campaigners are mobilising around the country. There was a public protest in Roscommon against the shops last week and a public meeting will be held tonight.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Michael Ring warned lives could be lost if the Government continues to drag its feet.

“The warning signs about products being sold in head shops have been clear for well over a year. However, nothing has been done since March 2009, when the Health Minister banned the drug, BZP, which was being sold as legal ecstasy or party pills in head shops,” he said.

“Since then head shops have mushroomed all over the country and other drugs have emerged to replace BZP. One of these, Mephedrone, has already been banned in Norway, Finland, Denmark and in Sweden, after an 18-year-old there died after taking the drug. If the Health Minister was able to ban BZP she must also now look at Mephedrone.”