Owners of so-called “Head Shops” in the North should have prove the substances and products they sell do not have “unintended effects and potentially dangerous consequences,” Derry MLA Raymond McCartney has said.
The Sinn Fein representative said such an initiative would be following the example of legislation on “legal highs” introduced by the Dail in the Republic.
Mr McCartney was speaking after an Assembly debate on the availability here of “legal highs” during which he highlighted swiftness at which “when a high is banned, another one takes its place.”
Stating “legal highs” were “devastating” communities, Mr McCartneys said effective measures must be put in place to tackle the problem.
He added: “Medical practitioners and experts point to the fact that, whereas alcohol and other drugs can take a long time before doing the damage that lead people to die needlessly or, in many instances, to take their own life, with legal highs the effect was immediate and often the rate of change in a person’s life is swift.
“I attended a meeting in Derry last year involving the Health Board, community and voluntary sectors, PSNI and the Justice Department. They explained the mechanisms put in place to ban it when a ‘high’ is identified.
“While the authourities may consider the process to be rapid enough the perception was that it could take up to a year.
“I believe that it could be helpful to examine the approach taken by the Dáil.
“The legislation enacted in Leinster House put the emphasis on suppliers to ensure that people who set up what is called a ‘Head Shop’ prove that the substances and products they sell do not have unintended effects and potentially dangerous consequences.”
Mr McCartney concluded: “Following enactment of this legislation a large number of Head Shops have closed.”
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