'Use Your Head' - an independant article on Head Shops

rhythm90

Hi everyone, new to the site so go easy!

I thought I'd start a thread to post an article I just finished on the topic of head shops in Ireland and the whole controversy surrounding them. The article itself is being written for a local independant magazine called Public Defender which a friend of mine is designing and publishing based on the contributions of whoever wants to contribute in the area. The topics he hopes to covers are broad; from art & music, to sport, to topical issues and even to personal issues depending on the reaction to the idea in the first edition.

Anyway, I decided to write the following article this morning and I hope you enjoy reading. I tried to be as unbiased as possible as I'm not 100% where I stand on the subject as of yet...

Article is as follows:

______

"
USE YOUR HEAD


Hello & welcome to Ireland 2010. Recession has well and truly hit, and most are feeling the pinch and have been for quite some time. Any person you speak to can most likely list five people off the top of their head who have been laid off in the past 18 months, unemployment levels for young people aged under 25 is at a record high, the government are hitting the ordinary middle class citizen hard in the pocket for the careless and irresponsible behaviour of banks and property developers when times were better and... Wait you know all this already? Oh ok, well that’ll be €10 please. Don’t forget your coat on the way out.

However in the midst of all this chaos, another highly strung societal issue has arisen in Ireland over the last 12 months. It has been the topic of mass opinion from all corners of society in the country. It has left many angered, many more confused and a whole load more with a craving for some fried chicken. I am talking about the topic of head shops.

Head shops first sprang up in Ireland about four years ago, not long before the Irish government took a radical step, overnight, implementing a complete ban on magic mushroom products being sold legally through the head shops to anyone over the age of 18 years old. Since then, the growth of head shops has sharply increased with the latest figures suggesting there are more than 100 fully stocked & fully operating head shops throughout the country in every region. Some staying open long into the early morning hours and even some offering a delivery service by way of which you can have your products delivered to your door.

The products which head shops sell have been the cause for grave concern recently from politicians, health professionals & the gardaí with many members of the public now constantly expressing negative opinions wherever an opportunity for them to do so arises. However there are of course two sides to every story and since head shops have continued to open in Ireland, trade and reap tremendous profit margins during a time of torrid economic stress, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that people, a LOT of people purchase goods from these shops and therefore, the head shop industry in Ireland is making money. A lot of money.

‘Head shop culture’ as I’ve seen it called, has spread across the nation. The shops sell a wide variety of legal synthetic manufactured compounds labelled in attractive packaging which may be sold to any person over the age of 18 who presents legitimate identification. The products sold mimic the effects of black market chemical drugs like cocaine, speed, ecstasy & amphetamines and also marijuana and hashish style smoking blends are available.

True to form of course, many Irish politicians have been exuberant in their campaigning and lobbying to have action taken on those who sell and supply these products to the ever growing market. Concerned and angered citizens constantly bombard public media on shows like RTE’s Joe Duffy amongst others where pro industry activists might argue a ‘bandwagon’ effect has come into play amongst the general public.

After some research both online and through the common media however, it’s quite apparent that whilst there are many who object point blank to the idea of somewhere on the high street selling manufactured ‘legal highs’ on the basis of health, public order or just perhaps plain morality, others see another side to the issue.

Many great articles and debates take place daily on the internet where topical chat is so often (oh so sweetly...) uncensored, and from reading it’s clear that many people feel that head shops should be allowed to stay and trade as normal without government sanctions and outlawing of products.

One of the “pro industry” main arguments is that which centre’s around the very issue of prohibition. One needs only to call on the image of the American prohibition on alcohol in the 1920’s which outlawed the sale, manufacture and transport of alcohol extensively throughout the 50 states until 1933. The policy of prohibition failed because the complete blanket ban created such a demand for alcohol that a huge black market began to thrive and along with it came often violent and sinister behaviour associated with gangs of smugglers fighting against each other and the authorities which created such a level of unrest that alcohol was re-legalized but highly taxed in the 30’s and such it has remained to this day.

One cannot help but see direct comparisons from that era to the situation which Ireland and indeed the world finds itself in with regard to legal alternatives to illegal drugs being available for sale over the counter, in a nice package from a person who clocks in every morning.

Unsurprisingly then, drug gangs, high profile criminals and drug dealers are not happy with the situation either. In many major towns and cities around the country, there are an abundance of head shops which open day and night catering for everything, essentially crippling illegal trade possibilities and effectively reducing the flow of money which fuels the machine of underworld crime and violence.

From this point of view, one might find it a little ironic to see an article about horrific gangland crime only to flip the page to see an article claiming head shops to be comparable to the devil himself, when only recently, two popular head shops were burned down in suspected arson attacks in Dublin City Centre which many claim was the work of local drug dealers more than a little sour about their losses.

On another note however, a valid point of view is often been expressed by the lobbyists and campaigners that head shop products are unsafe, untested and potentially harmful to users as there are no designated testing standards for new manufactured compounds on humans. Also people are often quick to highlight the physical effects of some of the products which the media and politicians feed on. However, pro industry campaigners will inevitably argue that any common recreational ‘highs’, legal or illegal, have a potential risk factor and the freedom to consume such products should not be decided by a government who seem not to see the bigger picture concerning the illegal black market potential which a ban on head shop products will inevitably create.

Both sides must be considered and understood before one can make an informed decision, the same as is true with many other legal products such as tobacco and alcohol, which incidentally have both been deemed far more dangerous to health than common illegal drugs such as marijuana and ecstasy since intensive testing has been carried out on many illegal drugs.

Perhaps in an ideal world, the power of the individual to choose for themselves whether to indulge or refrain would be based on personal knowledge and whilst many believe a more liberal policy is the way to achieve harmony, it seems as Ireland’s government looks set to outlaw numerous ‘legal high’ products in about 3 months from the time of writing, that there is a long road left to travel before the powers that be open up to the idea of head shops.

For now though, as both sides argue and campaign, the power is with you, the individual to educate yourself on the products and the situation.

I hope that if this article has sparked your interest that it is just the beginning of your scope into the subject, as there are many sources of interest online and in the media on the topic.

Be safe."


Any thoughts welcome!

MaceFace

Leaving aside any opinion I may have on the subject, there is very little in way of value in reading the article.

What exactly was the point you are trying to get across?

I would suggest that it requires more detail rather than just opinion, as it reads very much like an introduction to something bigger on the subject.

rhythm90

Hey Maceface,

Apologies for the poor formatting there, just copied and pasted from word and legged it for my lunch! All fixed now! :P

Essentially the point of the article was just a synopsis. To inform people of the current situation surrounding the subject. As the magazine article is going to most likely be read by a target audience of probably 18-28 year olds in the area, I thought an "introduction" as you put it would be a good way to write it. I didnt want to show any bias as I said, instead I wanted to supply the reader with enough information on current goings-on to consider both sides of the argument for themselves and to prompt the reader to further research the arguments being put forward themselves in more detail if they so choose to.

No disrespect intended, but you say you have your own opinions on the subject, as do I, however for someone who is entirely unfamiliar with the situation, I think it would make an interesting read and I hope it may prompt more people to look into it more so that people arent so quick to judge and jump on Joe's bandwagon.

rhythm

MaceFace

rhythm90 wrote: »

Hey Maceface,

Apologies for the poor formatting there, just copied and pasted from word and legged it for my lunch! All fixed now! :P

Essentially the point of the article was just a synopsis. To inform people of the current situation surrounding the subject. As the magazine article is going to most likely be read by a target audience of probably 18-28 year olds in the area, I thought an "introduction" as you put it would be a good way to write it. I didnt want to show any bias as I said, instead I wanted to supply the reader with enough information on current goings-on to consider both sides of the argument for themselves and to prompt the reader to further research the arguments being put forward themselves in more detail if they so choose to.

No disrespect intended, but you say you have your own opinions on the subject, as do I, however for someone who is entirely unfamiliar with the situation, I think it would make an interesting read and I hope it may prompt more people to look into it more so that people arent so quick to judge and jump on Joe's bandwagon.

rhythm

May I suggest you include more detail in terms of figures, graphs, comparisons to other jurisdictions, and include names of respected figures that people go to for further reading.

Honestly, get others to read the article and ask if they got anything from it.

Sand

I am bemused by the whole spectacle of the head shops debate. Im a little biased in that I am in favour of the decriminalisation, regulation and taxation of the drugs market in general. Anyone who wants to do drugs is *way* too smart to get addicted, theyre going to do it anyway, so might as well take it out of the black economy and into the taxable one.

But is there any evidence that the products available in headshops are any more medically dangerous than whats on offer in bars? Or over the counter in the form of nicotine? What about their danger relative to government supplied methadone?

If there is evidence is significantly more dangerous than those legalised drugs, then fine theres grounds for a debate. Otherwise, not so much.

ChocolateSauce

Sand wrote: »

But is there any evidence that the products available in headshops are any more medically dangerous than whats on offer in bars? Or over the counter in the form of nicotine? What about their danger relative to government supplied methadone?

If there is evidence is significantly more dangerous than those legalised drugs, then fine theres grounds for a debate. Otherwise, not so much.

The primary "problem" is that there isn't any evidence- because they haven't been studied. In effect, the only danger is the huge question mark over them. I don't think it's actually a problem unless a substance is physically addictive (and headshops don't knowingly stock physically addictive substances); of all the non-addictive drugs out there, like MDMA, LSD, Mushrooms and Cannabis, their dangers pale in comparison to the dangers of alcohol and tobacco, and I don't think the herbs and moderately powerful stimulants they sell in headshops would be too different.

MaceFace

Sand wrote: »

I am bemused by the whole spectacle of the head shops debate. Im a little biased in that I am in favour of the decriminalisation, regulation and taxation of the drugs market in general. Anyone who wants to do drugs is *way* too smart to get addicted, theyre going to do it anyway, so might as well take it out of the black economy and into the taxable one.

But is there any evidence that the products available in headshops are any more medically dangerous than whats on offer in bars? Or over the counter in the form of nicotine? What about their danger relative to government supplied methadone?

If there is evidence is significantly more dangerous than those legalised drugs, then fine theres grounds for a debate. Otherwise, not so much.

What a crazy thing to say. Then tell me how there are so many drug addicts in the world?
Do you not think that plenty of people come out of a club at 3am and see the hatch and think what the hell, they will give it a go?

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

The primary "problem" is that there isn't any evidence- because they haven't been studied. In effect, the only danger is the huge question mark over them. I don't think it's actually a problem unless a substance is physically addictive (and headshops don't knowingly stock physically addictive substances); of all the non-addictive drugs out there, like MDMA, LSD, Mushrooms and Cannabis, their dangers pale in comparison to the dangers of alcohol and tobacco, and I don't think the herbs and moderately powerful stimulants they sell in headshops would be too different.

This is all just speculation.
What you are getting when you buy from a head shop is a combination of ingredients that individually may not pose much harm, but together, no one knows what the affects really are.
In much the same way as people may claim Ecstacy is quiet safe, but we know that in combination with alcohol, it can be lethal.

A pharmacy can not sell medication until it has been tested and known to be safe. Why not head shops?

johnnyskeleton

I have to say, all this talk about headshops can only serve to encourage people to try them out. I don't take illegal drugs so I'm not especially likely to try legal versions of them. However, someone who does take illegal drugs but doesn't like the fact that they are illegal might decide to move their business to headshops.

However the knee jerk reaction of politicians, newspapers etc that headshops are inherently wrong without any evidence that they are dangerous clearly suggests one very important thing: the establishment don't want people having too much fun outside of the established boundaries.

crickie

Politicians generally agree that the past years’ police raids on Christiania’s hash trade have been unsuccessful, but they differ on forwarding a viable solution
It was exactly six years ago this week that police conducted their first full-scale raid on Pusher Street, the famed road in the city’s Christiania area where people could openly buy hashish.
The raids were the result of the Liberal-Conservative government’s decision to crack down hard on the area’s hash trade. But today, both police and politicians admit that the trade still thrives on the street, if in a somewhat more discreet fashion.
A major difference between now and then is that the dealing is now controlled by the hardest groups of pushers, who have managed to withstand the regular raids. Police say that some of those people have gang connections, and much of the past year’s gang warfare has been directly linked to the drug trade.
‘If the goal was to stop the trafficking of hashish in Christiania, then it has absolutely not succeeded,’ Peter Ibsen, president of the Police Officers Federation, told MetroXpress newspaper. ‘I think the best thing you can say is that the booths are gone in Pusher Street. But hash is still being sold as much as it ever was.’
Those booths have instead been traded in by sellers for fold-up tables and wooden blocks featuring the various types of hashish and pot on offer.
According to police, the main reason why they have failed to completely stop the hash trade is that it requires enormous resources.
Politicians are still split on the matter, with the left-of-centre parties believing that things were better at Christiania when it was left to its own devices.
‘So far a ban and a massive police operation have not produced any results,’ said Karina Lorentzen, legal spokeswoman for the Socialist People’s Party. ‘We simply have to study the situation more thoroughly so we can get some better ideas of how we deal with marijuana trafficking and the increasing misuse of hash.’
Lorentzen said the only thing the police raids have done has been to spread the hashish trade out into the rest of Copenhagen. She has proposed that the government set up a hash commission to examine the issue more closely.
Kirsten Larsen, a Christiania resident and member of the Christiania press group, believes there may even be more dealing now than there was six years ago.
‘Anybody can see that Pusher Street is alive and functioning. I’d even say the trade is growing because there may not be enough funding available for the same massive police actions that began in 2004,’ she said.
Larsen said that one noticeable difference, however, is the somewhat more tense atmosphere of the area, which is in stark contrast to the period before 2004. She said it can often feel as if ‘eyes nervously follow you around’.
‘But that’s because the police raids have left only the hardest criminals controlling the trade. And that inevitably means that we have to fight internally to keep the harder drugs out of Christiania.’