Headshops and their presence in Kilkenny may well be a thing of the past if public opinion has anything to do with it. This weekend a protest will be held outside the two shops in the city with the public voicing their concerns about the products on sale legally in the stores.
I took a trip to the Hemp Shop on Dean Street to talk to the manager there following a spate of burglaries and thefts from the premises in recent times and was interested to see the clientele of the shops as I spoke to him.
During the hour or so there were at least 10 customers with all but one looking for a marijuana substitute, which is a grass-like substance and is a little stronger than the real deal. The clients ranged in age and many were young lads who were over 18 and looking for a cheap high. For €10 they got their 'smoke' for the day. Speaking with the owner, I was interested to hear that most of his clients were over 30 and that 80 per cent of the business was the 'smoke'
He made a good argument for the legalisation of substances like marijuana but I wasn't convinced about his advocacy of the legalisation of heroin....
To cut a long story short, the substances that are on sale in headshops are clearly dangerous. Most of the pills, etc, say that they are not fit for human consumption on the package and therefore they should not be sold in the knowledge that this is what is happening with them after they are sold. This is where regulation comes into the equation. If these substances are not going to be taken out of the shops or the shops closed down, then regulation is the next best thing.
Currently there is no regulation of headshops or of the substances on sale in the shops. The owners themselves will tell you that the substances are dangerous and should not be taken in many cases, yet they sell them to others to take.
Youths hear the word legal and they think it is something safer than it actually is, after all what Government would allow life-threatening substances for sale in a shop on the side of the street? Yet the substances on sale in many cases are more dangerous than the real thing.
It’s time that the Government took the finger out and did something to regulate this ‘legal drugs’ industry. People have died in this country and in others — even the UK is making methadrone illegal and it is still for sale in Kilkenny.
I know that I wouldn’t want my children to have access to these types of substances and at the age of 18, youths are going to want to experiment. We should be making it more difficult for young people to get their hands on these products — for their own safety.
