Some 60 to 70 people gathered outside the Dáil this morning to call for a ban on head shops which sell so-called legal highs.
Groups from towns including Roscommon, Athlone, Drogheda, Bray, Arklow and Dún Laoghaire carried placards opposing head shops and highlighting the risks of taking substances from the shops.
The biggest group came from Roscommon where people have been protesting every day outside a head shop since it opened earlier this year. Speaking on behalf of the group, Jackie Snype said the protests would continue until the shop closed.
The picket was organised by Eurad (Europe Against Drugs) and its president Gráinne Kenny said she was certain it would make a difference. She said politicians such as Dr James Reilly from Fine Gael and Senator Joe O'Toole had come out from the Dáil to attend the protest and had assured her that they would raise the matter in the Dáil and Seanad.
Ms Kenny said there were more than 100 head shops around the State selling psychotropic substances and she would not stop campaigning until they were all closed.
The Government has announced that a range of products will be banned from June but Ms Kenny said this was not enough as head shops would merely stock other products.
A number of other anti-head shop events are being planned, including a demonstration in Clontarf on Saturday at noon.
On Monday, the High Court granted a temporary injunction restraining a premises in the village from being operated as a head shop. The owners had sought the interim order against their tenant after they heard on RTÉ that a head shop was being opened in the building.
Campaigners against head shops in Kilkenny will hold an information meeting in the Club House Hotel in Kilkenny next Monday night.
