'Head shop' legal controls don't go far enough - Ferris
LEGAL controls on, so called, head shops which are due to come into effect this summer do not go far enough according to north Kerry Sinn Fein Deputy Martin Ferris.
Deputy Ferris said that while he welcomed what he called a "belated" government move to ban a number of substances currently on sale in 'headshops' he said the move is still inadequate.
Sinn Fein have proposed a stringent substance control model as a consequence of which the party says head shops as they currently operate, could no longer exist.
"Communities in Kerry and across the country and parents in particular are very concerned by the rate at which headshops are opening and the absolute lack of regulation governing the substances which they sell. A number of deaths and many more hospitalisations have been associated with the recent proliferation of legal highs," said Deputy Ferris.
Deputy Ferris said his party had laid out a comprehensive set of proposals which he claims are a real solution to the problem of headshops and said that if adopted, this proposal would effectively bring about conditions in which head shops as we know them could no longer exist.
"A number of proposals have been put forward by other parties. But those proposals are inadequate and by their own admission interim measures only. Sinn Fein and I are proposing comprehensive legislation to address the problems surrounding non-medicinal psychoactive substances or 'legal highs' once and for all," he said.
The Sinn Fein proposal involves the establishment of an independent authority which would be tasked with regulating the import, production and sale of all psychoactive substances other than those that are currently covered by existing legislation.
This authority would work with the existing drugs bodies and the Department of Health and the HSE to introduce and enforce a licensing system under which substances can be quickly identified and then restricted or banned as appropriate.
- SIMON BROUDER
