Head shops need extensive regulation

THE news of plans to ban the sale and possession of a range of substances sold in head shops is welcomed by all those who protested outside these stores.

However, the proposed ban will not end the trade in “legal highs”, but drive these substances on to an unregulated black market.

Head shops that currently operate as legitimate businesses will still side-step the law by tweaking other psychotropic products. In addition to monitoring the products on sale by the national advisory committee on drugs, there is a need for further measures to regulate the head shop business by way of planning and consumer laws.