A MAJOR research project to establish what psychoactive products are being sold in head shops and their effects on users has been commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD).
The research, ordered last February by then minister of state with responsibility for drugs John Curran, is to establish whether illegal substances, including those most recently banned, are being sold in head shops. It will also be used to determine whether more products legally sold in head shops should be banned.
Earlier this month, the Government recategorised several products as illegal drugs including synthetic cannabinoids, BZP derivatives and mephedrone, forcing their removal from shops.
The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) was this week awarded the tender to undertake the research, which will be conducted over the next two months before a report is submitted to the NACD in August.
The research will concentrate on products with “psycho-pharmacological” effects which could be harmful to the user, but which are not subject to legal controls.
Researchers will review substances to establish what the products are supposed to contain on the basis of labelling and actual chemical content.
Focus groups will assess “user experience” including the psychological effects on cognition, mood and mental functioning, in addition to longer-term effects on physical and mental health, dependence and performance.
