Headshops issue to be investigated by Oireachtas Justice Committee - Kenneally

The Oireachtas Justice Committee will carry out a thorough investigation of ‘head shops’ and the legal drugs they provide during the course of the current Dáil session after Committee Chairman and Waterford Fianna Fáil TD proposed the subject for their work programme. The committee will be looking at how legislators can deal with this problem and whether it will be possible to ban them outright.

“Having agreed our work schedule I can confirm we will be investigating the issue of headshops over the next few months as it is an issue that requires urgent attention,” said Deputy Kenneally. “There is clearly a big problem out there with these head shops. They are providing so called ‘legal highs’ to the young people of this country.”

“That is helping to create a culture of dependency, of addiction and is having a huge knock on effect on the people who are using these headshops and their families. It is clear that there are a lot of people all around the country whose lives are being badly impacted by the existence of these headshops and personally I would like to see them banned.”

“I believe we should thoroughly investigate this subject and look at the type of products that these places are offering, the impact they are having on families throughout the country, the experience of medical professionals and what advice they have in dealing with them and whether we can secure cross party support to deal with the headshops issue once and for all.”

“The Justice Committee is an appropriate platform for having this debate which is clearly in the public interest. Headshops are a huge area of concern amongst the public at the moment and it is important that the Oireachtas should debate those issues that are deeply impacting the people of this country,” Deputy Kenneally concluded.