EU drug legislation - Targeting ‘legal highs’

A European Commission proposal to allow the EU withdraw dangerous designer drugs from the consumer market at short notice is to be welcomed.

The EU’s biggest users of such substances are Irish people in the 15-24 age range.

Although Ireland delivered a blow to the “legal high” trade with legislation in 2010 effectively banning head shops and prohibiting specific drugs, much of the trade across Europe has shifted online or onto the street.