Originally posted by Ballybrown bruiser:

And the fact that the Shinners are taking such a lead in it also disturbs me.

Originally posted by clangera:
``Personally, I am not hearing any outcry amongst my friends, all of whom are parents. Again, not trying to make light of it - but is this a handy media driven issue?``

Spot on, it is media driven. Whilst I have no doubt that the drugs available in the shops will have a detrimental effect on individual cases, booze is a far, far worse problem. Its a bit like date rape drugs - a non-issue blown entirely out of all proportion. Head shops have been in New Zealand for many years now and have caused no collapse of civilisation as some of the codgers were predicting on the Frontline tonight. In fact New Zealand still has a serious methamphetamine problem so if people want the harder stuff they`ll get it. I think its down to parenting - its funny, but properly reared kids never seem to get in drug trouble, or very rarely. Its truly amazing what can be achieved when you explain stuff to kids instead of screaming at them ``drugs are bad, mmkay``.

``And the fact that the Shinners are taking such a lead in it also disturbs me.``

Absolutely. Its legal and they cant have control of it so its no suprise that it hasnt gone down well with the lads.

Originally posted by bannerbaby:
Will there be a danger that kids will be able to get stuff from these shops the same way they`re able to get alcohol from off-licences?
Is there a danger that if youths take some of these "legal" substances, that through peer pressure etc they will want to try out the much harder illegal drugs? - That would be my concern about them.
I think its bad enough trying to rid the country of drug problems, but to me head shops are like a advert encouraging kids to experiment...

Originally posted by bannerbaby:
Will there be a danger that kids will be able to get stuff from these shops the same way they`re able to get alcohol from off-licences?
Is there a danger that if youths take some of these "legal" substances, that through peer pressure etc they will want to try out the much harder illegal drugs? - That would be my concern about them.
I think its bad enough trying to rid the country of drug problems, but to me head shops are like a advert encouraging kids to experiment...

Originally posted by bannerbaby:
Will there be a danger that kids will be able to get stuff from these shops the same way they`re able to get alcohol from off-licences?
Is there a danger that if youths take some of these "legal" substances, that through peer pressure etc they will want to try out the much harder illegal drugs? - That would be my concern about them.
I think its bad enough trying to rid the country of drug problems, but to me head shops are like a advert encouraging kids to experiment...

Originally posted by KKCatExile:

Being a kid is an advert encouraging kids to experiment, and I`d up sticks tomorrow morning and get the f**k out of this country if some jealous old b*****dddds got their way and kids stopped experimenting as they always have done.

Will they want to try out "much harder illegal drugs". Yes. Yes they f**king will and they`ll go ahead and take them too, and there isn`t a goddamn thing you or Fianna Fail or the HSE or the Gardai or anyone else can do to prevent that. And somehow society will survive. It survived the Holocaust, it`ll cope with head shops.

Has anybody ever used the h*sh substitute these shops sell. Wondering wot its like compared to the real thing?

Originally posted by iomanaiocht:
but if its adding to the poverty and misery of an already beleagued community that was ravished with drugs than we have to take the issue case by case.

Originally posted by bannerbaby:
Valid points about trying to get drugs off the street through headshops, but some people also missing my point - supposing 300 kids went to college –   (And these are just hypothetical statistics  )   supposing 150 will experiment with drugs - they were going to anyway, legally or not. 100 won`t ever touch them. Now there are 50 kids who are unsure - they may or may not dabble through the course of their college education - with head shops being available they have easier access to drugs, legally and in perhaps less threatening environments – I think they are MORE LIKELY now to experiment, than not to. And if they take a liking to it, a percentage of them are probably more likely to move onto the heavy stuff. Statistically speaking, I reckon that you could end up with an increase in drug use – both legal and illegal drugs due to the head shops.
That’s all that I’m trying to say…
TAN, regards your comment on the off-licences – I was making a point of how easy it was for kids to get access to alcohol from off-licences and that the head shops would probably go the same way – I never made a comparison that alcohol was more dangerous than head drugs….

Originally posted by long danny:
.... I have never felt as threatened as I would on a night out in Limerick, fact.

Originally posted by iomanaiocht:
sorry when has a member of sinn fein ever charged with a drug offence?

Originally posted by Ballybrown bruiser:
Between Joe Duffy and now Frontline this evening there seems to be an outcry about these headshops in the media, but is it really there on the ground? I don`t hear anyone talking about them and I`m a parent.

A garda friend of mine says that any young fella who wants to buy drugs can do it a lot easier than going into a head shop. According to him drink is the cause of almost every problem they get called to.

I`m not making light of it. Of course there is a drug problem and no doubt a few people will come on here and tell very sad stories around head shops.

But I think if you raise a child properly and get the breaks, they`ll stay away from that nonsense. Drugs are widely available, head shops or not. At least we could regulate it a small bit with them.

And the fact that the Shinners are taking such a lead in it also disturbs me.

Personally, I am not hearing any outcry amongst my friends, all of whom are parents. Again, not trying to make light of it - but is this a handy media driven issue?

Originally posted by Rebelcounty30:
[most level headed people get on with their lives without this s** !....Look at your man ming on frontline last night...to think hes a councillor !!.

Originally posted by Rebelcounty30:


most level headed people get on with their lives without this s** !....Look at your man ming on frontline last night...to think hes a councillor !!.

Originally posted by KKCatExile:
Yeah, and other people don`t get on without it, they get on with it, mind your own business and leave them to it. Who gives a sh1t what "most level headed people" do? What if someone doesn`t want to be level headed, doesnt particularly want to "get on" but maybe actually do something of their own free will without the pressure to be like most people? We`re happy enough to dole out all sorts of drugs to kids who act differently, or drugs to help kepp people happy, or to keep them concentrating, so long as we are kept working, a drug is fine, but once it becomes a threat to the way of thinking of "most level headed people" then it has to be stamped out.

Of course, those people could just mind their own f**king business, and go on doing whatever makes them happy and let other adults do whatever makes them happy, but the moral majority are never happy with that. They have to f**king legislate difference out of existence. And then find some other difference to define themselves as normal against, and crush that.

As Doug Stanhope said, just relax: you die at the end, didn`t anyone explain that to you?