Head shops should be regulated just like your local off-licence

I WOULDN’T dream of ingesting any of the muck they sell in head shops, but 20 years ago I might have been tempted. Once, when younger and without fear (or real understanding) of the consequences of alcohol and drugs, as is the way with many young people, the availability of such things, without breaking any laws, might have proved attractive to me.

The highly visible presence of shops on main streets that sell chemically-prepared mimics of illegal narcotics confers a degree of legitimacy on the trade itself and the subsequent use of the compounds.

It is clear from the number of these head shops that have sprung up in recent months that many people are prepared to spend their cash there buying substances that are not illegal, even though potentially dangerous to their health, thereby reducing at least one risk (that of criminal prosecution) if used.