A further tightening of planning regulations is being sought to halt the opening of head shops selling drugs paraphernalia.

More young people are dying from recently outlawed legal highs in Northern Ireland, a coroner said.

‘Legal high’ drugs should be sold by pharmacists in the same way as alcohol in pubs so that doctors will know what teens have taken when they overdose, the UK government’s former chief drugs adviser has said.

A head shop owner who stored a cannabis-like chemical substance was told yesterday that her offence “merited” a few days in jail.

Record quantities of former head shop drugs were stopped entering the country last year, with the seizure of several new substances.

Gardaí seized €2m worth of banned head shop drugs and nearly €330,000 worth of illicit prescription tablets last year.

Drug experts have said the seizure of 10kg of head shop drugs indicates a “lucrative trade” of the former legal highs on the black market.

The owner of a chain of headshops has been sentenced to three years and fined €100,000 for illegally importing Viagra like products.

The owner of a chain of head shops has been sentenced to three years and fined €100,000 for illegally importing Viagra-type products made from seal penises.

The owner of a chain of headshops has been jailed for two years today for illegally importing Viagra-like products.