Keeping Ahead of the Head Shop phenomenon

Posted on March 20, 2010 at 10:31 PM

I was shown a poster this week of a Head Shop that is opening up in my constituency and a constituent informed me that they got a leaflet in the door that advertised for a head shop that would do home deliveries.   As a result I have raised the issue of Head Shops a couple of times in parliamentary questions in the Dail. The most recent reply is interesting. Plans are afoot to ban some of the substances that Head Shops sell but the regulations to ban those substances must first be notified to the European Commission under the European Technical Standards Directives and there is a 3 month period after notification during which the regulations are stalled from taking effect. The EU law that applies is the same one I pointed out would have applied if Ireland had jumped ahead of the EU in banning light bulbs.  This time delay on the bringing in of regulations banning particular substances means that head shops can sell these products in the meantime. When the substances are made illegal what new products will take their place on the shelves of these shops?  Could some of these substances be dangerous? The statement in the Minister’s reply that "Some of these substances are used in industrial activities and the application of controls under the Misuse of Drugs Act will involve a restriction on trade in their legitimate use" would make you wonder about the wisdom of them being used for personal use.

The Government seems to dealing with this issue in a reactive and piecemeal way. To be fair it seems to have emerged as an issue very suddenly. According to the Minister in reply to my earlier PQ on head shops "Under the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, a Research Advisory Group has been established to identify possible options for the regulation of headshops. The Department of Health and Children is actively participating in this process."  What is needed is an informed political debate on this new phenomenon and how best to control and regulate these shops.  The regulations being used may well be appropriate but there may be other steps that could be taken in addition to enable us as legislators to keep ahead of the Head Shop phenomenon.  Labour has made proposals that one way of regulating the head shops is through our planning laws and we have tabled a bill in the Dail to make it necessary for a planning application for change of use to be made to the planning authorities before a Head Shop can open in a premise not previously used for such a purpose. Dublin Mid West has both the Minister and Minister of State, John Curran T.D, with responsibility for this issue, as local TDs so it will be interesting to see if the tide of head shops will be stemmed locally. Here is the text of my PQ to the Minister for Health and Children on the issue of Head Shops and the banning of substances on sale in those shops, together with her reply:

QUESTION NO:  164

DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Health and Children (Ms. Harney (Dublin Mid-West))

by Deputy Joanna Tuffy

for WRITTEN ANSWER on 10/03/2010  

   *  To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason she proposes a three month standstill on legislative measures to outlaw the sale of certain products commonly sold in head shops in view of the fact that European law permits the Houses of the Oireachtas to take immediate action for urgent reasons in the interests of public health and public safety; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

 -          Joanna Tuffy

REPLY.

In the light of the health risks associated with some of the products being sold in so-called 'head shops', the Government has agreed to the introduction of regulations under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 which will introduce controls on a range of substances which are currently on sale in head shops. The substances concerned include:

•           synthetic cannabinoids (SPICE products)

•           benzylpiperazine (BZP) derivatives

•           mephedrone, methylone and related cathinones

•           GBL and 1,4 BD

The possession and sale of these substances will become illegal and subject to criminal sanctions under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Some of these substances are used in industrial activities and the application of controls under the Misuse of Drugs Act will involve a restriction on trade in their legitimate use. 

The legal advice available to me is that, in accordance with EU law, it is necessary to notify the Commission of the proposed Regulations under the “Technical Standards” Directives 98/34/EC and 98/48/EC.  This imposes a 3 month stand-still period on the making of the regulations. Failure to notify would leave the Regulations open to challenge when they are made.

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