‘Head shop’ sells drink to foil drug tests

BY JOE BARRETT
THE owner of a Portlaoise shop that is selling a product that claims to distort or mask the results of drug testing has been slammed for being irresponsible.

A parent with three young adult children contacted the Laois Nationalist about the Nirvana ‘head shop’, which is located at the corner of Main Street and Railway Street.

He said that he had seen an advertisement outside the shop that it was offering a carbohydrate drink called Zydot Euro Blend. After researching the product, he found that “one hour after drinking it, your urine should be pure for four to five hours and that it can also be used as a marijuana detox”.

He said: “If a person is using drugs and they had to undergo a drugs test, the claim is that they would pass the test using this product. Apparently this is quite legal. I would imagine, as I am sure most would, that providing this type of product, which conceals the fact someone is using drugs, is irresponsible and indeed perhaps bordering on being morally wrong.”

The man also expressed his surprise that the shop stays open until 4am on Friday and Saturday mornings. He said: “I am sure it is not necessary to spell out who their target customer is at that hour of the morning.”

He continued: “Maybe the products being sold are less harmful and less addictive than the real thing, but nonetheless, with what they can do, and at 4am in the mornings, it is not something I want my teenagers to have access to.”

Another parent told the Laois Nationalist: “I had to go up town to collect my daughter, who had been to a 21st birthday party one Friday night at about 2am. When I was passing the shop, there was some kind of light shining from it.

‘‘There was a crowd of young people queuing outside it and ordering stuff through a hatch in the front door. In my naivety, I thought it was some kind of chip shop. I was appalled to find out from my daughter that they were queuing up that late at night to buy, as my daughter put it, ‘natural buzzes’. When I asked her to tell me what she meant, she said the shop sells products that claim to give people highs similar to illegal drugs.”

The manager of the shop, David Flood, said the shop does not stock any illegal substances and everything sold in the shop is legal. On the issue of the late opening hours, he said: “We’re doing nothing more than what large supermarkets are now doing when they open 24 hours a day.”

Garda sources said they had received no complaints about products that are currently on sale in the shop.