Head-ing for trouble
'Legal highs' getting delivered to homes
Wednesday March 10 2010
A FINGAL doctor has warned people using so-called 'legal highs' are 'dicing with death' after a new service delivering the products to homes in Swords began trading. In the week the Government announced an impending ban on a number of items on sale in 'head' shops, leaflets were dropped through letterboxes advertising a 'home delivery service'.
Operating from ' Thursday to Sunday, from 7pm to 4am', for a €10 delivery charge, customers can choose from a 'menu' of products on sale, listed as 'exotic incense blend', 'plant feed' and 'novelty bath salts', which were printed with the disclaimer 'not for human consumption'.
Fine Gael TD, Dr James Reilly, said the delivery service seemed 'a very sinister development' and said many users had ended up in hospital after taking the substances in question. 'You can't order a bottle of whiskey at 2am, but you can order a mindaltering drug that could have serious mental consequences,' Deputy Reilly told the Fingal Independent.
'My colleagues tell me our A&Es are full of people every weekend suffering the ill-effects of these substances. Some of them will have long-term mental consequences.
'Because these products are sold in shops, people think they are somehow safe. That couldn't be further from the truth. People are dicing with death with longterm mental problems.' 'Head' shops have opened in Swords, Balbriggan and Malahide in the last two years, while several premises in the city centre now offer late-night sales.
Deputy Reilly called for new legislation to combat the trade, as well as greater regulation of the industry. 'More needs to be done,' he continued. 'We still have an amendment to the Finance Bill that would require these shops to be licensed, where they could be charged € 100,000 for that licence.
'The minister for the environment, through planning reforms, should dictate where and when they can open and what is sold.
' The minister [ for health] needs not just to have substances banned, but she needs to put in directives that any items sold have to be passed by the Irish Medical Board or the Food Safety Authority.
'The final leg of the stool is product liability insurance on all products. That combination will make it difficult for these shops to open and it doesn't constitute an outright ban, meaning we don't have to wait three months for the EU.'
- Robin KIELY
