Legislative moves to crack down on the sale of ‘legal highs’ would appear to have forced the closure of one of the city centre’s head shops.
While the Hemporium on Michael Street remains open, the ‘Little Elf’ store on John Street was closed this week following the Government’s banning of several head shop products that had, until Tuesday, been available for sale.
The new cabinet directive means it is now illegal to buy or sell mephedrone and spice-like products said to mimic the effects of taking cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.
With a new Criminal Justice Bill to be being brought before the cabinet, City Councillor David Cullinane has welcomed this week’s move, one he considered long overdue.
“It has taken the Government four years of long promised action to get us to this point,” he said.
“I recently assisted my party in the preparation and publication of a bill to tackle this issue which we gave to government. I hope that some of this has been taken into account in the proposals that the Minister is now bringing to cabinet.”
Cllr Cullinane said that the mushrooming of head shops around the country had become a “serious cause of concern” to parents and politicians alike.
“It is well documented that under 18’s and children have suffered a large proportion of the life-threatening incidents we have witnessed this year alone,” he continued.
“It was also clear that these shops were selling the dangerous substances in question to children without any monitoring of their customers’ age. Legislation is necessary to protect children and teenagers who are vulnerable when it comes to the legal availability of such substances.”
See The Munster Express newspaper for full match report.
