In 1938 in America, an infamous film was released on drug use.
Reefer Madness tells the extremely melodramatic tale of a group of students who descend into amorality after smoking marijuana.
Their crimes include manslaughter, murder, and a descent into insanity, amongst other crimes, and the movie is now a byword for hysteria.
It had its intended effect, however, as around the time of its release cannabis was made effectively illegal in the US.
It was slightly earlier, in 1934, that Ireland made the plant illegal in the Dangerous Drugs Act 1934. Since then (sarcasm alert), the government won its War on Drugs.
There are no drugs at all in Ireland, and the scourge of illegal substances is confined to the past.
We all drink ourselves silly and legally instead.
Back to reality, however, as this week we have coverage of HHC vapes, long available in Ireland as elsewhere.
A HHC vape is not the same as a nicotine vape.
Instead HHC has, roughly, the qualities one would find in cannabis in Amsterdam.
The real difference is that cannabis, or hemp, is a plant.
Like alcohol, there is some degree of predictability for someone who’s experienced when they imbibe.
Like alcohol, the worst side-effects in the immediate short-term are vomiting and generally feeling awful.
Nothing, ordinarily, that should land someone in hospital or leave them with anything but regret in the morning.
HHC, however, is semi-synthetic, unregulated, and untested.
The long-term effects or the effects of it are all but unknown.
HHC vapes can be bought over the counter for about €30, and you don’t need to know how to roll with tobacco to smoke it.
The government’s sloth-like response to yet another synthetic drug on the market is to wait until it’s been discussed on prime-time radio, and then move to regulate it.
A great solution, until another synthetic lookalike pops up, and another, and another.
It’s whack-a-mole with manufacturers who are younger and smarter thinking than any government minister. Manufacturers who understand their customers.
Furthermore, this is all referring to the faintly quaint idea of buying from a shop, and doesn’t even touch on what can be so easily bought online.
As others have pointed out, this move to legislate for HHC comes with no public awareness campaign.
That’s the Irish way, isn’t it? Lock the problem away, rather than question why so many in adolescent addiction services are using HHC.
Make it illegal and do nothing else, and give the gangs another customer.
It is just over 90 years since the Dangerous Drugs Act was passed.
We don’t need statistics or data to tell us it has made little, if any difference, to those who really want to get high.
Every time another drug is made illegal, it’s a new customer, right? And this is only referring to adults.
Young adults and teenagers are curious about the world and of course will try anything new.
They won’t have the right information on it, and instead will ask Dr Reddit.
And fast-forward five years, and we’ll have the same hand-wringing again and they can add another illegal drug to the list and keep on doing that ostrich manoeuvre.
Tidy Towns overlooked
There is recent and good news for Tidy Towns groups nationally, as they will no longer have to pay insurance under a new agreement between IPB Insurance and county and city councils.
The news is, as its nature, good but not splashy; a positive development, but without much fanfare.
Isn’t it always the fate of Tidy Towns news to go this way? Long before the summer gets underway and the visitors arrive, the groups in their high-vis vests have been beetling away getting the show ready.
Last week, The Southern Star carried news of some significant work carried out by the group in Skibbereen.
Of a town population of almost 3,000, eight volunteers picked up 40 bags of rubbish over 12 hours.
Others did their bit too, but no matter what way you stack the numbers, it’s a small few angels doing the dirty work.
