A further tightening of planning regulations is being sought to halt the opening of head shops selling drugs paraphernalia.
A town councillor in Killarney, Co Kerry, claimed the “scourge of the head shops had been dampened” by the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010.
However, Fianna Fáil’s Tom Doherty insisted more drugs had been invented to replace banned products.
“These new harmful substances are still legally available over the counter,” he claimed.
At a Killarney Town Council meeting, he called for a ban on all head shops to be included in the 2015-2021 town development plan.
“There is no legal definition of a head shop so this ban would be easily circumvented by giving the unit a different title. It could, for instance, be a clothes shop that also sells legal highs,” he said.
Source: Donal Hickey, Irish Examiner, 15/05/13