Call for vigilance in Westport on head shops

Call for vigilance in Westport on head shops


Edwin McGreal

A WESTPORT Town Councillor has called on landlords in the town to exercise care when letting out their properties and to resist allowing head shops to operate in the town.
“In the present economic climate landlords may have difficulty in finding tenants but I would respectfully suggest that the short term gain of letting a property to people who will operate a head shop there will definitely end up with long term pain.
”These shops are a scourge on society and are in no way beneficial to any local economy or the community in general,” Cllr Hyland told The Mayo News.
Head shops have opened in Castlebar and Ballina, causing a lot of concern in those areas with Castlebar Town Councillors planning to demonstrate their opposition outside the two head shops in Castlebar this week by means of a protest.
Cllr Hyland explains that many parents have approached him, concerned with the possibility of a head shop operating in Westport.
“Parents in Westport are worried and anxious. In these times parents have enough to worry about in taking care of their teenagers without having this to deal with. These shops prey on young people at a time when they are impressionable. In England they have been closed down and I look forward to Minister [for Health, Mary] Harney passing legislation to allow for closure. I don’t want to see a head shop in Westport and the people of Westport don’t want them.”