Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 May 2010
8 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice; Equality and Law Reform the steps that are being taken in advance of the ban on mephedrone and various other substances coming into effect including whether head shop owners and other distributors are being asked to hand over the substance prior to the ban taking effect [19654/10]
View answerHead shops have been exploiting the availability of potentially dangerous products and undermining the existing legal framework by the sale of substances which are not regulated but have the same effects as controlled drugs such as cannabis or cocaine. As part of a multi-pronged approach targeting the activities of head shops, the Government made two important decisions earlier this week.
The primary vehicles for regulating psychoactive substances are the Misuse of Drugs Acts, 1977 and 1984. Accordingly, the Government made an order declaring certain substances, including mephedrone, to be controlled drugs for the purposes of the 1977 Act. The Minister for Health and Children has made the necessary statutory instruments to control these substances, which include the mainstream of psychoactive substances being sold in head shops. The instruments make the possession and sale of these substances illegal and subject to criminal sanctions and they can be dealt with using all the powers available under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
However our experience with head shops has shown that new psychoactive substances can appear with little notice. These can be exploited by suppliers who make them available without regard to the well-being of individuals or society at large before they are subject to regulation. I believe that the public safety issues are too serious to allow such a situation to arise again.
Accordingly, the Government has approved my proposals for a general criminal justice response to deal with the supply of new psychoactive substances as they emerge, which will operate in addition to the Misuse of Drugs acts controls. The Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Bill, which the Government has approved for drafting as a matter of priority, will bring the full force of the criminal justice system to bear down on the activities of head shops or any other supplier engaged in the sale of unregulated psychoactive substances.
Under the proposed Bill, I am providing that the sale or supply of unregulated psychoactive substances for human consumption will be a criminal offence. In addition, I intend to give appropriate powers to the Garda and to the courts to intervene quickly in a non-criminal procedure to prevent the sale of such products by way of appropriate prohibition orders. The Bill will also contain full search and seizure powers for the Garda Síochána and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
I welcome the recent announcement on the banning of certain products. I also welcome the Minister's announcement that he will present to the House legislation on psychoactive substances.
Will the Minister agree that the failure to respond for such a long time to the threat posed by products being sold in head shops allowed demand to be created, and allowed the emergence of a far wider customer base than simply those people who would normally be attracted to that type of product? Does he agree that that has resulted in the development of drug dependencies by those who might otherwise not have engaged with that type of substance misuse?
What steps were taken in advance of the ban, which came into effect this week, to prevent the likes of mephedrone and snow going directly on to the black market? In England and Wales, local government officials were contacting head shops to seek their stocks of substances well in advance of the ban taking effect. Was that the case in Ireland? Has the Garda, since the ban came into effect, ensured that the products are not on sale? Has it raided warehouses where mephedrone has been stockpiled, for instance? To my knowledge, mephedrone is transferred by head shop owners to Ireland.
I have a final supplementary question——
I will call the Deputy again.
I assure the Deputy that the Government has taken the matter very seriously for the past few months. We have been working as fast as we can. It is a complex area. We considered the experience in the UK, particularly regarding the way in which the matter was dealt with there, as the UK has grappled with the problem. We are intending to chase a moving target, which is why we need a belt-and-braces approach. As soon as we ban a certain substance, new substances come on-stream.
I am under no illusion that although a lot of the head shops have closed, some are continuing to trade, and an effort will be made somewhere in this country to bring in new products that are not on the banned list. That is why the Government decided it needed to examine this matter both generally and specifically. That work will continue and I hope to be able to publish the legislation within the next week or so. This is subject to the views of the Attorney General.
It is not an easy issue to address because we do not want to introduce a ban with unintended consequences, such as the banning of medicinal products, food products, tobacco products or poisons. We must be very careful in that respect. We are subject to the EU technical standards directive but we have got over this, as evident from the recent announcement.
With regard to the Deputy's question on the Garda Síochána and co-ordination, I thank the Garda Commissioner and his team, particularly Deputy Commissioner Callanan, who drove this initiative. As of 11 a.m. this morning, the Garda was working on a list of 102 head shops nationally, some of which were more prominent than others or perhaps of an underground nature. Sixty-six of these have now been closed and banned substances have been handed to the Garda. Thirty-six remain open but have handed over banned substances and claim their businesses now relate only to non-banned substances. Three distribution centres were visited and they also handed over banned substances and claim their businesses now relate only to non-banned substances. The shops and distribution centres remaining open will be monitored closely to ensure their activities are within the law. The Garda does not yet have a figure for the weight of the substances handed over but the best estimate is that they would amount to at least three large truckloads.
Reference was made this morning to the advertising, by way of leaflets in some areas, of mail ordering and phone ordering of banned substances. I encourage the Minister to ask the Garda authorities to pay special attention to any such activity, which is now a criminal offence.
When will the remainder of the dangerous legal highs be dealt with? Is it a matter of waiting for the legislation? There are 13 substances, called cathenones, and 37 chemicals, called pyrovalerones, that remain to be dealt with. They are still for sale.
The Minister mentioned the fact that the Garda is chasing a moving target and that the Chinese laboratories are producing one substance per fortnight. I welcome the announcement that the Bill will be available within a week or two. Is the Minister confident that it can be passed by the summer or will it take longer?
It is definitely our wish. Drafting has been prioritised and the Office of the Attorney General is aware that the Bill must be passed before the summer recess. I hope we can publish the Bill in the next week or so.
The definition of "psychoactive substance" is the one that is causing the most difficulty. One must ensure substances for normal use are not banned. It is intended to refer the Bill, when ready, to the Commission to get its approval under the technical standards directive. We will be using the emergency procedure in this regard. Given that we already obtained consent on the emergency procedure regarding the existing products, I believe we will succeed in obtaining approval.
With regard to other products, the Department of Health and Children is considering the specific issues to which the Deputy referred. The products banned in the past couple of days are some of the most significant on sale.
The mushrooming — if that is not an inappropriate word in this context — of the establishments in question happened over the past nine or ten months in particular. While the Minister says this is a complex issue, the decisions taken in the past week were proffered on the Government over those months, the point being that an entire new generation of children has been seduced into the drugs business in the belief that because certain substances were on sale on the high street, some kind of approval was conferred on them and that they were legal and not harmful. The children's habit will now be fed by the drug barons, who will have a new market.
What does the Minister say to the proposition that it is the drug barons who have been involved in burning down some of the head shops, including some in his constituency? Is there a turf war to win the new market that has been built up over the past year, during which time the Government might have proceeded with more haste to cut off that possibility?
The Deputy does not give the young people of our State enough credit. They comprise a discerning group and the vast majority know that the substances on sale in the head shops are not substances that any normal, right-thinking person would want to take. However, of course there are youngsters who have entered head shops and who have become hooked on the substances on sale. That is a source of regret. The existing legislation was not sufficient because this was a new phenomenon. I understand the UK authorities announced the ban on mephedrone without obtaining approval of the Commission within three months. Therefore, the authorities would not be able to ground any prosecutions they would take. We have the confirmation and did use the emergency procedure because we regarded this matter as extremely urgent.
The Garda has been very conscious of the allegation that there is an element burning the head shops because they are bad for the business of the former. The Garda has been very active in investigating the burning and attacking of head shops and I understand a number of prosecutions may very well be taken in that respect.
With regard to Deputy Ó Snodaigh's point, a number of prosecutions for reckless endangerment were already taken and the cases are before the DPP. Existing legislation was being used, even before the most recent events.
I pledge the support of the Fine Gael Party to the Minister's forthcoming legislation and agree with him that it is in the interest of us all to have this matter dealt with by way of legislation by the summer recess. Is he satisfied that the Garda has been sufficiently resourced to deal with this issue? I refer in particular to the changing composition of the various substances. Is the Minister satisfied sufficient training is available for gardaí to facilitate their identification of the substances involved?
Absolutely. The Garda carried out raids on head shops previously and was in some instances successful in seizing some products. In other instances, it entered head shops and found there was nothing illegal under the current legislation. It was able to visit up to 106 head shops nationally within 24 hours of the Government obtaining consent from the Commission. That was no coincidence and was co-ordinated with the Government. I thank the Garda for this.
The substances that have been impounded or taken will be analysed and if there are prosecutions to be taken, they will be taken. The important point is to ensure that no new potentially psychoactive products are made available for sale. If they are, we must deal with them, be it specifically or more generally under the proposed new legislation. We must ensure the head shops that continue in operation, and the distribution centres for head shops, have no banned substances therein.
