Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. If it were easy it would have been solved much earlier than this. The Government is taking action to deal with the problem of head shops. In addition to the public health concerns I, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, am acutely aware of the need for a criminal justice response.

It is my intention to bring forward urgent legislation that would make it a criminal offence generally to supply unregulated psychotropic substances for use by humans. I have taken this move following intensive discussions with both the Attorney General and the Garda Commissioner. My goal is to bring the full force of the criminal justice system to bear down on head shops. In my view, they are gateways to illicit drug dependence and must be shut down.

This effort is part of a multi-pronged approach to deal with the issue. Already, the Minister for Health and Children has introduced regulations under the Misuse of Drugs Act to place controls on the specific substances currently available for sale in head shops. That will deal with the immediate problem. However, suppliers continuously develop new drugs and there is always a time-lag before such new drugs are subject to proper controls. My legislative proposals are intended to be available to deal with new drugs as they emerge.

As part of the multi-pronged approach, relevant Government agencies, including environmental health officers, are reviewing existing legislative provisions to establish if head shops are liable for prosecution under a range of legislation. The primary vehicle for regulating psychotropic substances is the Misuse of Drugs Act. As I stated, the Minister for Health and Children will take action under that Act to place controls on a range of substances currently on sale in head shops. This will make the unauthorised possession and sale of these substances illegal and subject to criminal sanctions. The orders will effectively mean that the mainstream of substances being sold in these shops at the moment will be banned.

The draft regulations have been notified to the European Commission as required by European law in order to allow these orders to come into effect as soon as possible. It is not possible to take prosecutions until that period has elapsed. Head shops are a problem in many jurisdictions where the authorities experience difficulties in finding comprehensive solutions. A major problem associated with the control of head shops is that the legislators are often left to play catch up - as soon as one dangerous substance is banned in a country, another product is produced to take its place. These products are often produced for an international market and incredible chemical expertise arid ingenuity is at play in constantly devising new products. For that reason, I am exploring how best to provide a criminal justice legislative response. While the full details of the legislation have yet to be finalised, the focus will be on seeking to ensure that the sale or supply of substances which may not be specifically proscribed under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but which have psychotropic effects, will be a criminal offence. I am also examining how appropriate powers could be given to the Garda and to the courts to intervene quickly to prevent these outlets from selling these products by way of appropriate prohibition orders. There are complicated drafting issues to be resolved but my officials have already been in contact with both the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Health and Children on the matter. I expect to be in a position to bring forward proposals to the Government in the very near future.

In the meantime a number of measures are already in train. The activities of head shops are being closely monitored on an ongoing basis by the Garda Síochána and Revenue's customs service, with a view to ensuring that no substances that are currently illegal are being sold. The HSE, in association with partner agencies under the drugs strategy, is finalising a national drugs awareness campaign that will focus on the dangers of psychotropic substances available through head shops. The national advisory committee on drugs has been asked to carry out some targeted research in this area. The House can be assured that I as Minister, together with my ministerial colleagues, are pursuing all viable approaches to ending the problems posed by head shops.

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