The people of Kilkenny have spoken out about their fears about what is being sold in head shops in the city and the lack of regulation surrounding head shops — according to a survey carried out by the Kilkenny Advertiser this week.
More than half of people said that they had concerns about the availability of substances on sale to young people at head shops.
Head shops sell a variety of party pills, synthetic substances and herbal products that give a ‘legal high’ and are currently available to over 18s across the counter.
Following the in-depth survey undertaken by the Kilkenny Advertiser in conjunction with SurveyGuru.com, where readers of the Kilkenny Advertiser website voluntarily took part in a six-question survey on head shops, it has become apparent that the majority of people believe that substances sold at headshops are ‘harmful’.
Some 52.5 per cent of people said that the substances are harmful, while 33.8 per cent believed that they were not. 13.8 per cent said that they did not know.
A majority however, believed that head shops should be regulated with 48.1 per cent opting for this option in the survey. Some 25.9 per cent said that head shops should be closed altogether, while a further 23.5 per cent said that they should be left as they are.
The survey asked what people thought about the effect that the closure of head shops would have on the use of illegal drugs in Kilkenny and interestingly a clear majority of 50.6 per cent of people believed that if the shops were to close, the use of illegal drugs would increase. 37 per cent of people didn’t think that there would be any effect on illegal drug use, while 6.2 per cent said that the use of illegal drugs would decrease with the closure of the shops.
And those who favoured regulation (rather than closure ) were far more inclined to think that closure would cause an increase in the use of illegal drugs.
Banning the sale of certain synthetic products was the most popular method of curtailing head shops by the people taking the survey with 59 per cent saying that this was an appropriate measure to take in curtailing the activities of head shops.
42.3 per cent said that making public liability insurance mandatory would be favourable while, 42.3 per cent thought that banning the sale of certain herbal products would be the way forward. 34.6 voted for applying more stringent planning permission regulations while, 33.3 per cent said that restricting opening hours would be an appropriate measure.
The survey pointed to a high level of concern about legal substances being freely available over the counter in Kilkenny and across the country. The people surveyed fell into three age groups with 49.4 per cent aged over 35, 43.2 per cent aged between 20 - 35 and 7.4 per cent classed as teenagers.
Also as this was a website survey people were asked whether or not they were resident in Kilkenny. 89.8 per cent said that they were residents while 10.2 per cent were not.
Commenting on the survey Cllr Joe Malone who is very involved in the local drugs task force in Kilkenny said, “during the Seanad debate which I attended this week, the minister has said that they won’t be closing the shops as there is no law on anyone selling the products so it won’t combat the problem. But the substances in these shops are not fit for human consumption. The stuff that is in these products is lethal and I’m told by those that know that it is better than the ‘real thing’. There is a need for legislation that’s for sure but closing them at this point just won’t work.”
The results are the opinions of 81 people surveyed by SurveyGuru.com - a Kilkenny-based company that carries out market research for businesses, organisations and students.”
