Off with the Heads!?!
So, both the government and the opposition want a crack down on head shops. For those of you who don’t know what they are, you should know because they’re everywhere these days.
They sell legal highs such as blow and Mephedrone which are all milder forms of drugs like cocaine and hash. The sensations are said to be less, however in some cases they have a long lasting effect which has drawn casual users to these shops.
Public Anger, expressed as usual through Joe Duffy has moved the majority of the country against the shops however we can’t simply view these shops as bad things, we have to look at the positives.
Jobs! Head shops provide employment and its simple as that. If one shop is opening every week then there’s one person coming off the dole queues every day (assuming that there’s an average of 7 working in the shop).
The next positive is that it removes business from the drug gangs and dealers. With countless gangland murders this month alone, it’s well known that the money that buys the guns is the money that we the people bought drugs with. If these people move from dealers to head shops then they remove the awkwardness of the dealer, they get it for cheaper and they still get the high they were looking for.
Sure, the dealers will still have their loyal business from addicts who buy heroin, but it’s the casual users with money who are keeping the drug gangs going. If we look beneath the surface, head shops can be a solution to gangland crime!
They also have a wider benefit to the economy. If the government were to regulate these shops properly then large VAT receipts could be gained and the legal highs could be liable to levies and tariffs, similar to tobacco and alcohol.
This government regulation must address other aspects before these shops can be welcomed though.
Firstly, they must ban all under 18s from entry to these shops.
Secondly, they must have similar regulations to sex shops. Advertising must be controlled to avoid attracting younger persons and to discourage further people taking up these drugs.
Thirdly we must see proper product control and traceability. We need to know, like any product where it came from and whether it’s safe or not!
If these measures can be met I don’t see why we can’t keep these shops open.