ICAP welcomes ban on Mephedrone
The Inter Church Addictions Project (ICAP) welcomes the recent ban on mephedrone. ICAP is alarmed at the number of recent young suicides in Northern Ireland that have been linked to the use of this so-called 'legal high'.
The pushing of such ‘legal highs’ on our young people, and their easy availability over the counters of ‘head shops’, represents another new means of the cynical exploitation of young people by unscrupulous profiteers, offering the false promise of happiness, well-being and fulfilment.
ICAP’s concern is that these lethal substances will pop-up, hydra-like, as another ‘legal high’, under a different innocuous guise, necessitating the protracted process of placing a legal ban on each and every one of them after their lethal harm has been experienced and recognised. Once one range of substances is legislated against, producers will simply introduce a new range of substances with different ingredients.
There is a need to move quicker on these substances in future. A mechanism is needed through which it does not take months or years to examine new active ingredients. They should be analysed quickly in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the supplier. Otherwise the supplier will just move on.
A Blanket Ban on ALL Legal Highs
ICAP calls for a blanket ban on all ‘legal highs’ while evidence is being gathered on them. All other existing and new ‘legal highs’ that come on the market should be considered potentially harmful and, therefore, classified as illegal until proven otherwise, with a legal requirement for producers to present for testing before putting them on the market.
ICAP notes that the USA has long had an answer to cutting off the supply of legal highs - a blanket law that bans not just one particular drug but any drug that resembles it. The Analogue Drug Act, 1986 automatically outlaws any drug substantially similar to any illegal drug in either composition or effect. ICAP would like to see similar legislation in Northern Ireland.
About ICAP
The Inter Church Project (ICAP) was established in 2004 and formally launched in June 2006 by the leaders of four of the main churches in Northern Ireland (Church of Ireland, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Catholic). Its is an inter-church group motivated by the love of God and dedicated to the building of hope and confidence among young people, particularly those with addictions and associated problems. ICAP seeks to provide a residential therapeutic treatment centre for young people suffering from substance misuse. It is currently setting up an addiction counselling service for young people.
Contact:
Inter Church Addictions Project (ICAP)
68 Berry Street,
Belfast
BT1 1FUJ
Telephone:
(028) 90 315656
Email:
chrisgruhn@icapni.org
Website:
www.icapni.org