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16 March 2011
Shock over sale of head shop drugs on Internet
BRAZEN DRUG pushers are targeting Wexford youths by selling banned head shop drugs on the Internet, The Echo can reveal.
A simple search of Google can lead any Wexford teenager to a website where they can buy banned drugs such as the potentially lethal Mephedrone, which mimics the effects of cocaine.
The Echo found a Buy & Sell ad on RTE.ie selling ecstasy, Mephedrone, Methylone, Naphyrone, Special Gold and other synthetic head shop drugs.
Advertised for sale in Wexford, these brands of stimulant drugs were previously available in head shops in the county.
At its height, there were five head shops operating in the county, (two in Enniscorthy, one in Wexford, one in New Ross and another in Gorey).
Advertised as being from “reliable manufacturers”, the drugs are for sale for €337.
86 people had viewed the ad by Friday, three months after it was first posted.
The Echo attempted to contact the foreign number on the ad, but only got through to a voicemail for a phone in France. Other websites are also advertising how to get the drugs.
Sinn Fein Wexford Cllr. Anthony Kelly said he was shocked at the easy accessibility of the drugs in the county and said he will be calling on the government to root out who these dealers are and jail them.
“Any unregulated drugs do untold damage to communities.
These synthetic drugs have an awful effect on the mind. We have enough problems in the county with heroin use also on the rise. The sellers are hiding under different guises and need to be exposed. I will call on the government to take stronger steps and urgent action to address this situation.
This issue needs to be monitored closely. The problem was the opening of the head shops in the first place,” Cllr. Kelly said.
Highly dangerous drugs – A&E consultant
A&E Consultant Paul Kelly at Wexford General Hospital said there have been a number of admissions recently involving people who have taken Mephedrone.
Remarkably, there was a complete drop-off in cases of head shop drug use following the government ban effectively closing all head shops in the country on August 23rd last. Three months previously, in May, the Government introduced new measures to criminalise the sale of legal highs.
Dr. Kelly said: “It was incredible how much of a drop off there was. At its height there were five admissions a week of young people who were experimenting with these drugs. Lately it has been hardened drug users coming in.”
He said it is highly dangerous to mix head shop drugs with cocaine (which is what these patients had done), as the chemicals used in both are unknown and the mix can be potentially lethal.
“We have seen almost a complete fall off since these drugs were made illegal and since the head shops were closed down.
People were coming in with acute psychosis and some patients had to go to the Intensive Care Units of hospitals in other parts of the country.
“You had first time drug users at parties and we had people coming from the one party having tried these drugs.
“There was a suggestion that these quasi-legal drugs were safe because you can buy them over the counter. They were far from harmless.”
Dr. Kelly said: “We had some seriously ill patients at Wexford General who took Mephedrone. Also these drugs often unmask underlying psychological problems. The problem has spread to America now where Mephedrone is being sold as bath salts.”
Ban
Minister for Health Mary Harney announced a criminal ban with immediate effect on a list of these drugs in May.
The ban makes it illegal to buy or sell Mephedrone, spice products and substances which mimic cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy in Ireland.
These products contain chemicals such as Mephedrone, benzylpiperazine, methylone, methedrone, butylone, flephedrone, and MDPV.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern also published the main parts of the New Criminal Law, which makes it illegal to sell hallucinogenic products.
The Psychoactive Substances Bill allowed Gardaí to seek a court order to close head shops suspected of selling drug-like products with the onus on the owners to prove they are not involved in such activities. Minister Harney said: ‘The possession and supply of these drugs is now illegal and subject to criminal sanction of: up to seven years imprisonment and/or a fine for unlawful possession, and, on indictment, up to a maximum period of life imprisonment for unlawful supply.”
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