Woman fined €15,000 for selling head shop drug

The former Funky Skunk proprietor in Cork who paid 150 Canadian dollars (€98) for a psychoactive drug and packaged it for sale in packets with a total retail price of over €30,000, was convicted and fined €15,000 yesterday and bound to the peace for three years.

Helen Stone, who pleaded to the offence of having the drug for sale, now has a number of shops but is no longer involved in the running of The Funky Skunk on 6 Lavitt’s Quay in Cork, not far from the Bridewell Garda Station.

Detective Sergeant Lar O’Brien testified yesterday that he visited the shop on Apr 14, 2011, and found 950 sachets containing various measures of Salvinorin A for sale, with prices varying from €20 to €60, depending on the quantity.