Castlebar head shop remains open despite product ban

Castlebar head shop remains open despite product ban


Edwin McGreal

LAST week’s DΡil legislation to ban a large range of substances currently on sale in so called head shops has received broad welcome among politicians in Mayo but some concerns remain.
The ban came into place last week and the two head shops in Castlebar were closed up to the weekend. However, the ‘Down Time’ shop on Castle Street was due to open for a number of hours yesterday (Monday). The Cosmic Closet shop on Richard Street has remained closed.
Mayor of Castlebar Cllr Michael Kilcoyne welcomed the move but questioned the delay in enacting the legislation.
“It is a step in the right direction but it six months too late,” he told The Mayo News last night. “It makes a fool of what the Government have been saying up to now, that nothing could be done until there was the proper consultation process and EU restrictions were a factor and now they go and change things before this apparent process is over.
”It must be very raw and painful for people who have suffered from using some of the products in these shops and suffered serious health scares from using substances of which so little was known. The Government definitely didn’t do a good job on this.”
Fine Gael Castlebar Town Councillor Ger Deere said the issue of head shops was one of the most significant issues he encountered in recent times. Deere and members of Castlebar Town Council took to the streets to march in favour of the closure of the two head shops in Castlebar.
"I have highlighted this issue on numerous occasions in the past and welcome the measures introduced to criminalise these products. This is one of the most serious issues I have encountered since being elected last year. It is vital at this stage that none of these products is sold under the pretence of a legitimate transaction and that the products still on the shelf are never consumed following the introduction of the new measures."
Sinn Féin’s Cllr Therese Ruane has been one of the most outspoken critics of the head shops in Mayo and is concerned that not enough has been done with the new legislation.
“While welcoming the banning of the products it doesn’t address the fact that many new products are heading this way unless we pass legislation similar to that which we have proposed in the recently published Sinn Féin bill.
"Owners and producers of these toxic substances are always one step ahead of legislation and all they have to do is withdraw the existing substances, alter the cocktail of ingredients, and supply the head shops with a new synthetic substance under a new name.”