James Carroll (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Curran. It is the first opportunity I have had to do so since I became a Member of the Seanad seven weeks ago. His presence and that of the Minister, Deputy Harney, show how seriously the Government is taking this issue. I welcome that both were present and I congratulate the Minister on her performance on "Liveline" earlier today regarding savings made on different drug schemes. Obviously, these are legal medicinal drugs, not what we are discussing now.

I was heartened to hear Senator Healy Eames talking about the link between alcohol and drugs because that is a very significant issue. Many studies in Scandinavia have shown that the way to tackle addictive substances such as alcohol and legal drugs, including products of head shops, is to increase price or have tighter regulation. These are the two paths we must go down regarding the entire range of drugs and drug related problems.

I was contacted personally, as were many Members, in my case by teachers in the Louth-east Meath area I represent. They spoke of the responsibility they have in this area, trying to stay one step ahead of drugs and the potential problems they might cause. I was told a horrifying story less than an hour ago about a young person who was seen by a community garda. He had no recollection of the previous two days of his life. He had taken drugs, or products from head shops, and just as Senator Healy Eames described, he woke up two days later without any recollection of where he had been.

If the pun can be excused, these shops are growing like mushrooms around the place and that is the reality we must tackle. A further element is that the shopkeepers or those who own such premises seem not to care about the effects of the drugs. Their sole care is that they have a business and they will try to make as much money out of it as possible. As I heard it from people who have gone to shops of this kind to research them, there is no regulation about how much of any product one can purchase. The only limit seems to be how much money one has in one's pocket. The worry is that a person could literally buy the entire stock of a shop. That is a grave concern I have.

The other associated factor is the cost factor to the State, the health services and the Garda, whether in the resources spent by the State dealing with people who are suffering from the side effects of the drugs or the gardaí who must deal with the consequences of what people do or the hospitals that have to deal with the serious consequences. We saw this at Christmas when some people were caught up in this situation.

I welcome the Minister of State's strong response last week to the threat that issued from the head shops in regard to so-called legal and herbal highs. We must co-ordinate our response to these establishments across the various Departments involved. Some are concerned that certain Departments operate almost as silos or bunkers and do not co-operate with each other in order to tackle problems. The Minister of State has a unique role to play in this regard, particularly because he holds portfolios in a number of Departments. It is great that he has met various Ministers and officials to develop a strategy to deal with this matter. It is essential that a cross-departmental approach be taken. Such an approach should involve the Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Health and Children and the Minister of State present.

I am somewhat perturbed by statements from other Members to the effect that by changing one chemical component of an illegal drug, it suddenly becomes legal. Senator Norris inquired as to whether we might consider the legislative position in other countries such as such as the United States or other EU member states to discover how they are tackling this problem. The concern is that the Executive and legislative arms of the State will be rendered impotent by virtue of the fact that one need only change one chemical component of a drug to make it legal and prevent action being taken. I hope the Minister of State will give consideration to this matter as soon as possible.

As stated, we must consider how matters relating to drugs and alcohol are regulated and how they tie in with other aspects. The main such aspect is the sexualisation of young people through advertising, nightclubs or their perception of so-called role models from the media and pop music spheres. Some role models appear to comment on the matters under discussion in a jovial manner. In the 1990s, for example, mere weeks after a young woman in England had died after taking half an ecstasy tablet, Brian Harvey of the band East 17 stated ecstasy was great. Certain members of the media and sports stars take the major responsibility of being a role model very seriously. Perhaps the Minister of State might encourage sports stars to point out to young people that if they want to be the next Brian O'Driscoll, Robbie Keane or Shay Given, they should not consume drugs or alcohol. Those who engage in such behaviour would never be capable of replicating the sporting successes this country has enjoyed during the past 18 months.

I was interested to hear about the experiences of other Members in this matter. I have learned a great deal from what was said. I am 26 years old and as the youngest Member of the Oireachtas, I hope I can bring a different perspective to the matter. In that context, it is important to bring a mixture of youth and experience to debates on the various topics debated in the House.

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House. The major concern that arises relates to the fact that certain drugs, regardless of whether they are legal or illegal, are becoming freely available in society. The reality is that people are able to get so-called legal highs from taking that which is on offer in head shops. The only people who will frequent these shops at 4 a.m. are those leaving pubs and nightclubs and who will perhaps already have imbibed alcohol or taken other drugs. I do not know whether the Misuse of Drugs Acts can be used in respect of this matter. However, I hope legislation to regulate the position on head shops can be brought forward as quickly as possible.

We must ensure we deal simultaneously with issues relating to alcohol, so-called legal drugs and the changing of chemical components to make illegal drugs legal. I reiterate that we have to consider increasing prices or introducing tighter regulation to deal with this matter.