We all knew this thread was coming, with the media frenzy and political smoke screening going on about them.

personally i believe all the smokes are terrible and from friends experiences the pills ,powders are ok so long as you dont drink a litre of vodka aswell. iv always found the shops and staff to be nice, most of them have great glass collections (prices are crazy though).
my only grievance about them is when they sell grow equipment and seeds.


Theres a program on tonight (24/feb/10) on tv3 10.00 ''Dying to look good midweek'' that'll be talking about headshops and their ''gateway drugs''.

also a decent article

https://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?opt...d=23&Itemid=46

so do you guys love,hate them and will they last long.

The one i go to every now and again is starting to focus more on the home grow aspect rather than legal drugs.
They do a roaring trade in legal highs but we all know that very soon they will become illegal...no harm there.

Growing gear is outrageously overpriced in these places, yesterday i had no choice but to pick up a 200w envirolite in one of these shops.
45 euros on the net and 75 euros in the shop was bad enough but the 30 euros they wanted for the socket was taking the piss.

Went to the electrical suppliers and got one for 7 euro with a few feet of cable thrown in for free.

Seeds are ok to buy in headshops as long as they are stored properly, seed banks set the prices so at least they cant rip people off on seeds.

My biggest gripe with head shops is that a good few times i've seen kids that could not have been older than 15-16 being sold fake coke and party pills.

Must watch that programme tonight cheers for the heads up Tonto.

Stay safe and happy all .

so just watched the program, it had its highs and lows.

the 1st part was the magic mushrooms death which i felt was just terrible sob story journalism, no disrespect to the family but i think they've probably done more damage than good, before people walked in got shrooms, (hopefully didn't drink booze) took them and it was happy days, now people walk around fields play the fungi lotto if they get high woohoo if not they haven't been taught to go to a hospital for impending kidney failure.

as for getting bzp banned look what happened

https://www.independent.ie/breaking-n...s-1946203.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...breaking8.html

the second half, debate was pretty good

the most memorable quote being
interviewer'' are they medically dangerous''
Dr bobby Smyth '' in terms of their harmfulness i would say they are at least as harmful as cannabis....addiction....menta l health defects''

the same doctor also point out that most of these cases are teen and booze

Beibhinn byrne (independent journalist) was the only voice of reason and simply kicked ass.

Then there was Grainne Kenny, out of touch, hysterical,I honestly couldn't really understand here points, just utter chaos. The scary thing is she is the president of EURAD (Europe Against Drugs), very scary.

heres a paper by her

https://www.eurad.net/research/Medica...ana%20Scam.htm

The program also only mentioned the head shop fires for a second. Honestly in a recession struck country, with soaring unemplyment , and fuck all government help, i think that the drug dealers should have been acknowledged for their job saving iniatives of burning down head shops.

By Eimear Ni Bhraonain and Eoghan MacConnell
Thursday March 11 2010

HEAD shop workers discovered two pipe bombs on their doorsteps in two separate premises as they arrived for work.
A busy town centre was forced to shut down yesterday after the bombs -- both viable devices -- were found outside the stores that sell controversial legal 'highs' in Athlone, Co Westmeath.
It is the first time a head shop has been targeted outside the capital following two arson attacks on stores that sell legal drugs in Dublin city centre last month.
Gardai evacuated scores of residents, workers and early morning shoppers after they were alerted to the devices at Myth and Magic in Irishtown and Eclipse on Mardyke Street at around 9.45am.
The Army bomb disposal team was called to the scene and made the devices safe before removing them for further examination. The pipe bombs have now been handed over to gardai for further investigation.
Officers are also examining CCTV footage as they look for clues.
The owner of Myth and Magic, which also has outlets in Longford and Tullamore, said yesterday she had operated "unmolested" in Ireland for five years.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that products sold at her store were all legally cleared by customs when imported.
Supt Aidan Glacken, who is leading the probe, said it was the first such incident targeting these premises. "The only other matters brought to our attention related to public concerns about substances being sold at these shops but there had been no prior threat," he said.
Detectives were interviewing the head shop owners and other witnesses yesterday but said the investigation was at an "early stage".
Gardai refused to comment on whether the attacks had any link to dissident republicans who are working with criminal drug gangs. "We want to widen our net as much as possible, we're looking at every possibility," added Supt Glacken.
Senator Nicky McFadden urged people to "leave the law to the gardai" yesterday after her office was evacuated during the incident.
The incident comes ahead of a public meeting in Athlone tomorrow to give parents information on herbal and synthetic substances on sale in head shops.
The Athlone Drugs Awareness Group is holding the event in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel at 7.30pm tomorrow.
- Eimear Ni Bhraonain and Eoghan MacConnell
Irish Independent

so rte took their turn of bashing head shops last night, some fair points but again it became the same old biased bullshit. some funny shit though when talking to the protesters.

for all the hype and talk over the months iv yet to hear an official government warning, or a warning in the papers about mixing mephadrone and alcohol.

Those who choose to snort horse worming pills & freebase cleaning products are part of natural selection and if you pop from it its your own stupid fault!

On the down side did you see how some of those shop owners didnt even have the bottle to do the interviews they had workers do it for them...

Head shop legislation expected to be approved today

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 07:28 AM


New legislation which will force head shop owners to prove in court that they do not sell mind-altering drugs is expected to be approved by Cabinet today.

Gardaí will be given new powers under the legislation, which will allow them shut down headshops.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern will bring the new legislation, in the form of the Criminal Justice Bill, before Ministers today.

It is expected to be passed through the Dáil before the summer break.


Read more: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakin...#ixzz0ncTAPwsK

A word of warning to anybody who may purchase growing gear at these places, now that this legal highs ban has come into effect you can bet your ass the cops will be watching these shops closely over the next few weeks.

seeds would have probably been banned to if it wasnt for that politician who ruled out banning them ages ago as a fuck you to the eu.

[alflud]

"Minister Harney brought an order to Cabinet to ban the substances following approval for the measure from the European Commission yesterday."

Talk about fascism. So sad that Ireland has become what it has. All that fighting and killing and for what? Fuck all. A european bit and brace. I don't know which is worse - the banning itself or the fact that Irish so-called legislators had to seek the approval of the european commission before they could do anything. Ireland is Ireland in name only these days. The Irish people have literally no say in what goes on there any more. You guys do realize this, don't ye? You're all at the mercy of these unknown, unelected members of this so-called commission. You fishermen want to fish more fish? Go ask the commission. You farmers want to grow more food? Go ask the commission. You legislators want to create more laws? Go ask the commission. I wonder how long it took them to approve the new blasphemy law?

Fascist european state. A country, a nation no more.

^
aint that the truth.


The Government and Fine Gael have continued to clash over European Commission proposals for increased budget co-ordination across the member states.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin accused Fine Gael of 'recklessly undermining' the national interest and future jobs.
He was responding to claims by Fine Gael Finance Spokesman Richard Bruton that proposals which would give the European Commission a veto over Irish budgets could jeopardise this country's low rate of corporation tax and see the introduction of new taxes.
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Minister Martin said that raising the unfounded spectre of losing control over our taxation policies undermined efforts to bring new foreign investment to Ireland.
The European Commission has proposed that eurozone countries submit their national budgets to the EU for 'peer review' before they go to national parliaments.
There are plans to set up a process which would advise eurozone member states on economic policy co-ordination as they prepare their national budgets.

Also on Morning Ireland, Mr Bruton said there was a danger that other EU countries would have their own agendas and that the role of the Dáil would be diminished.
He said there was the possibility that the Government might lose control over setting the rate of corporation tax.
Earlier, he had said Fine Gael was opposed to any such measure and was astonished that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance seemed willing to surrender crucial decision-making powers to Brussels.
Last night, the Minister for Finance accused Fine Gael of seeking to whip up anti-European sentiment at a time of serious financial difficulty for the European Union.
In a statement in response to Mr Bruton's comments, Mr Lenihan said it was reprehensible that the main opposition party was advancing such entirely unfounded assertions.
He said the European Commission discussion document, which was issued yesterday, did not even mention tax harmonisation.
Minister Lenihan said Mr Bruton knew there was nothing in the Lisbon Treaty that diminished Irish sovereignty in fiscal matters.
He said Mr Bruton also knew that the Government secured a protocol confirming this position in advance of the second Lisbon referendum.
The Minister accused Fine Gael of pandering, for its own political purposes, to a jingoistic, anti-European line of argument - worthy of the far reaches of Euro-scepticism.

It's about time we stood on our own 2 feet and actually became the free state our fore fathers fought for.