John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation, having spent almost two years as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drug strategy. While the issue of head shops has become very prominent in the media over the past six months, when I assumed my previous responsibility I became aware of it very quickly. I believe much of the preparatory work for the Bill we have before us today was done by a number of people over a considerable period of time and I would like to acknowledge some of those people in my contribution.

The problem of psychoactive substances and head shops is not uniquely Irish. I attended a UN conference on narcotics where I found it very interesting to speak, at both formal and informal sessions, to a range of delegates from countries throughout the world about how they were trying to deal with this issue. No country had managed to deal with it completely successfully because the products that are being sold are being deliberately researched and manufactured to mimic the effects of other illegal drugs and are constantly replacing those drugs. Most countries were trying to deal with the problem under legislation broadly similar to our Misuse of Drugs Act. We have used that legislation to deal with the issue and have, recently, extended the range of products covered. However, we needed to do more. The legislation being initiated today will go much further than that of any other European country.

People have argued that if we close down head shops, the product will be sold illegally. I do not dispute that, but the very presence of the head shops encourages people who would otherwise never have experimented to experiment. As the previous Minister of State with responsibility for the drug strategy, I had the opportunity to meet drug workers, visit accident and emergency units and speak to people involved in this area and I am aware of the serious long and short-term damage that has been caused to people as a result of the misuse of these substances. Over a year ago, Deputy Darragh O'Brien brought a delegation to the House before this issue hit the media. The drugs strategy we published and researched includes actions relating to head shops. Therefore, the issue was around for quite a while before culminating in this legislation.

This Bill developed as a result of a co-ordinated response of a number of Departments and agencies and a considerable effort was made to try to deal with a problem that had emerged as a result of the many ways people were trying to work around the rules and regulations in law. Some people often suggested we should licence the products. Those being sold were products "not for human consumption" and the ingredients were constantly being changed and it proved quite difficult to introduce a licensing system in that regard. I had a number of meetings with the Garda Commissioner, the Attorney General, Des Corrigan from the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, Kathleen Stack and our staff in the office of the Minister with responsibility for drugs and the Secretaries General of a number of related offices to try to develop a co-ordinated approach to dealing with the issue.

People indicated or suggested we should have planning laws relating to head shops. I have never supported this or licensing for head shops because my view is that it is the products they sell that are the problem. Therefore, we should not have the shops at all. Our legislation and our approach to it must be robust in that regard and for that reason, this legislation has evolved across a range of Departments. With regard to the use of this legislation in conjunction with the Misuse of Drugs Act, the Garda and Revenue and Customs officers have indicated their willingness and ability to tackle the range of products that have been coming through.

While taking on this legislation, it is important to recognise that the drug problem does not go away, but evolves. It is important to ensure we have procedures in place to identify the emerging problems. In that regard, I acknowledge the very useful work that is done by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, chaired by Dr. Des Corrigan. In more recent times, the committee has become much more focused on providing accurate, timely information. Besides its longitudinal studies and research, the committee now provides fast and accurate information on emerging problems. It is only in that context that these issues can be addressed.

People have suggested that by closing head shops and closing off home delivery services and Internet sales, we reduce the problem but do not remove it, because the substances being sold will eventually be sold as illegal drugs and that this would not be much different from what we deal with in terms of ecstasy, cocaine or heroin currently. However, I believe closing them is hugely significant, because when head shops emerged, a number of people experimented with head shop products who never would have dealt with or used illegal drugs. This was frightening and quite alarming. I saw this in my area - as did Deputy Rabbitte - where there is a head shop just up the road from us. I met a number of parents and families and people who thought - this is the worrying issue - that because these products were being sold in a shop and were not illegal, it meant they were licensed, controlled or regulated. However, just because something is not illegal does not mean any quality control or standards are applied. It is because people felt a sense of security and safety in experimenting with some of these products that for some time I have been of the opinion that licensing, regulation or planning around head shops was not sufficient. My view is that the products being sold are absolutely dangerous and that our target should be to close them down. That is the direction we are going.

I am aware that other European countries are looking at this legislation to see if they can do something similar. We have also looked at what other countries have done in trying to tackle the issue of head shops, but they have not been very successful. The enforcement of this legislation will now become a focus of attention not only in this country, but in others due to the fact that the sharing of information has become more crucial in recent times. A number of countries still use their misuse of drugs legislation to reduce and minimise the range of products being sold, but this broader legislation being introduced today will make a substantial impact and will certainly close the remaining head shops as we know them. While some of the products we have seen in recent times will become illegal, the quantities of them being used, the number of people experimenting and those presenting with problems will reduce as a result of the introduction of the legislation. It is my pleasure to compliment all of those who over the past year did significant work to address the issue of head shops and their products, resulting in the legislation before us today.

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