Bill not enough to close down head shops, FG warns

A crackdown on head shops will not put them out of business fast enough, Fine Gael last night warned.

The party’s justice spokesman Alan Shatter said the Government’s plans were too slow and cumbersome and would continue to put youngsters at risk.

Mr Shatter has tabled amendments to the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Bill to shut what he claims is a time lag loophole in the legislation.

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UK to follow our example with ban on head shops

Britain may follow the Irish example in introducing ‘catch-all’ legislation to tackle the growth of head shops.

British Home Secretary Theresa May expressed deep interest in the measures being brought in by the Government here when she met Justice Minister Dermot Ahern for talks in London yesterday.

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Justice Minister aims to close headshops

The Minister for Justice will today announce details of legislation aimed at putting headshops out of business. The shops specialise in legal alternatives to outlawed substances such as cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.

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Opening Statement for meeting of Joint Committee on Health and Children on in relation to recent legislation made to control certain substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and regulations made thereunder regulate and control the import, export, production, supply and possession of a range of named narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances listed in the Schedules to the Act. An Order of the Government is necessary to declare additional substances to be “controlled drugs” for the purposes of the Act. The Minister for Health & Children then makes regulations to place controls on the import, export, production, supply and possession which are appropriate to the substances which have been declared to be controlled drugs.

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Ahern: New laws will see head shops closed for good

Head shops will be closed for good this summer, once new legislation is enacted in the summer, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has predicted.

Last month, the Government introduced separate measures to ban a range of so-called “legal highs” – psychoactive substances serving as substitutes for illegal drugs. But it admitted at the time that head shops would counteract the ban simply by changing the composition of some of the substances or introducing new products.
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Sale of ‘pipes’ to be banned in Head shops

RTE News reports that the Government’s new legislation designed to target head shops makes it a criminal offence to sell pipes or any other objects used to take controlled or psychoactive drugs.

The Psychotropic Substances Bill also makes it illegal to sell objects used to cultivate drugs by hydroponic means and allows for penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of €5,000 upon conviction.

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Crime lords hit a new high thanks to Ireland head-banger drugs strategy

Albert Einstein’s defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It is a fitting description of our drug strategy in this country.

Christy Kinahan, the reputed mastermind of the drugs gang broken up in Spain, Britain and Ireland during the past week, was in and out of jail between 1987 and 2001. He then moved to Spain and the police there have been suggesting he has amassed a fortune of between €100m and €500m from drug dealing in less than a decade.

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Ireland ‘will have most robust laws anywhere’ on head shop products

NEW laws are being prepared to stop head shops re-inventing themselves as “medicines shops”, according to the minister in charge of the Government’s drugs strategy.

Pat Carey also said that he fully expects a legal challenge to hit the courts in a bid to weaken new laws banning a range of substances.

But he said Irish legislation will be the most robust of any country and will close loopholes to stamp out so-called “legal highs”.

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Minister for Health and Children announces immediate criminal ban on list of head shop products in Ireland

Press Release - Tuesday, 11th May 2010

Minister for Health and Children announces immediate criminal ban on list of head shop products

The  Minister  for  Health  &  Children, Mary Harney, T.D., announced today (Tuesday,  11  May  2010) that the Government has made an Order declaring a number  of  substances, commonly referred to as so-called ‘legal highs’, to be  controlled  drugs  under  the  Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, with immediate effect.  This follows approval by the relevant EU authorities.
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Ahern to lead crackdown on headshops in Ireland