Stores continue to trade despite crackdown

A NUMBER of head shops reopened for business and traded in mind-altering products that were not included in the ban announced on Tuesday.

A body representing head shops said claims head stores had closed permanently were “Government spin”.

However, Garda sources said no head shops opened in Dublin’s north inner city – where there are 11 stores – except by appointment to allow gardaí remove products. Many shops in the south inner city were also closed, except for two of the bigger outlets.

The Dublin Head Shop in Temple Bar, was selling a range of smoking products that are still legal and packets of party pills that claim not to contain banned substances.

When the Irish Examiner visited yesterday, staff were telling customers they were not closed and only certain products had been banned.

The store had cabinets full of products, almost all smoking mixtures, containing two drugs – salvia and kratom – which are still legal.

The shop is also selling a range of party pills, which mimic ecstasy. Most of these packets said they did not contain BZP, other piperazines or ephedrine, which are all banned. They are also selling bongs and other equipment, which are also legal to sell.

The Nirvana store on South William Street – which a recent RTÉ documentary claimed had 900 customers over a four-hour period on a Saturday night – was “cleared out” of nearly all products.

Staff there said everything had been taken by gardaí and did not know whether the shop would stay open. The shop continued to sell bongs and growing equipment.

In a national operation, gardaí took away a significant amount of products on Tuesday from shops. Gardaí continued to contact owners of shops that were closed to remove substances.

It is understood gardaí removed a “van load” of products from one major shop in Dublin.

Garda sources reported “pretty significant levels of compliance” by head shop owners.

Helen Stone, owner of the Funky Skunk in Cork city, which reopened, and spokesperson of the Alternative Traders Ireland Association, accused the Government of behaving in a “very underhand manner”, by introducing a ban without prior notice.

She said the Government ban was short-sighted: “We would expect to see a significant increase in the illegal drugs market as a result of the ban.

“We would point out that a number of our members have suffered break-ins recently, with many of the products being stolen – it is therefore likely that these products will now be sold by the perpetrators on the illegal drugs market.”