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Concern that ‘head shop’ could open in Nenagh
(06/02/2010)
By Simon O’Duffy
Gardaí and public representatives have expressed concern that a ‘head shop’ selling legal drugs that mimic the effects of illegal ones could open in Nenagh.
A meeting of the Nenagh Town Joint Policing Committee (JPC) this week heard of the likelihood of a head shop opening in Nenagh, and that the authorities would be more or less powerless to do anything about it.
There is presently only one head shop trading in County Tipperary, but the county’s Garda Drugs Sergeant Seamus Maher says the Clonmel store has presented serious health problems in the south of the county and caused him concern that similar problems will occur if a head shop opens in North Tipperary.
Addressing Nenagh’s JPC meeting last Monday night, Sgt Maher said head shops are not currently licensed or regulated and that there would be “nothing to stop” such a store from opening in Nenagh. The possibility was met with equal concern from those present at the meeting, though local TD Máire Hoctor (FF) said Minister for Drugs John Curran has made a commitment to tackle what she referred to as “a relatively new phenomenon we’ve encountered.” Deputy Hoctor said she would be impressing on the minister the need to introduce swift legislation on the matter.
Cllr Jim Moran (FF) was “shocked” to learn of how easily a head shop could open in Nenagh and said such a store should be “locked down” as soon as it opened.
Cllr Virginia O’Dowd (Lab) said she had heard young people in Nenagh discussing head shops and that people should be concerned about the situation. “We’re just lucky we don’t have one in our town, but that’s not to say we won’t have one in a few weeks’ time,” she warned. Committee chairman Cllr Tom Moylan (FG) said the JPC would send a motion on the matter to the minister, a move welcomed by Nenagh Garda Inspector Bernard Barry, who also expressed concern that a head shop could open in the north of the county.
Cllr Tom Mulqueen (FF) said dangerous legal drugs are already being sold to teenagers from private houses in Nenagh; Inspector Barry appealed to the local community to inform gardaí of their suspicions in this regard. Cllr Moylan asked if there has been a general rise in the abuse of legal drugs in North Tipperary, and if drug use has increased locally due to the recession.
Sgt Maher said gardaí have not noticed any substantial increase in the county and described drug use as “static in Nenagh over the last two years.” However he said the type of drug being used is changing, with many offenders opting for cheaper substances. Gardaí have noticed a decrease in cocaine use in the county, he said, though cheaper substances such as amphetamines are still found.
Sgt Maher said gardaí have identified a “growing heroin problem” in Tipperary, though there are relatively low levels of intravenous drug use. Ecstasy use has also declined, though the sergeant said gardaí have become increasingly conscious of new head shop products, while other legal drugs such as benzodiazepines are being sold without prescription on the black market.
The Tipperary drugs sergeant spoke of Garda measures to combat drug crime in the county, where there are eight officers dedicated to drug enforcement, four of them spread between North Tipperary’s three Garda districts. Recent measures have included meeting local vintners over the supply and use of drugs in licensed premises and efforts to bolster community policing units in identified drugs “hot spots.” JPC member and retired schoolteacher Eamon Dillon said he was always aware of “vulnerable” schoolchildren, who he said need to be provided with sporting outlets and other activities to dissuade them from experimenting with drugs.
Sgt Maher said gardaí have a school liaison programme in place and spoke with second level students on the matter in Nenagh last year.
Cllr Moylan said Nenagh Town Council had sponsored a successful conference with the Mid West Regional Drugs Task Force last year and proposed that the JPC organise a similar event this year. The conference should have a particular emphasis on schoolchildren, he said. |
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