Keena brings ‘synthetic cannabis’ to meeting to highlight risks

Hulk Hogan made an appearance at this month's council meeting in Athlone, though the man himself wouldn't have known about it.

The famous American wrestler's image was emblazoned on brightly-coloured packaging of a product which was passed around in the council chamber by Athlone Mayor Cllr Frankie Keena in order to highlight the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids.

At the meeting Cllr Keena displayed two packages of "jellies and sweets" containing synthetic cannabinoids, which he said had been purchased from a retail outlet in Athlone. He said the products were currently being sold legally, but that they posed "serious" public health risks.

"It is of serious concern to me, and to parents as well, that these particular products are available in some of our shops in town," he said.

"As you can see, these ones are being called Hulk Hogan products, so they are being marketed and geared towards young people.

"The HSE has said they are concerned about the use of this particular drug... the type of symptoms associated with these products include psychosis, mental health issues, and they can be addictive as well depending on the person that's using them."

"These products have a synthetic cannabinoid. It's a derivative of THC, which is a controlled substance found in cannabis," said Cllr Keena.

He said the availability of the products reminded him of the issues that arose with local 'head shops' selling products that were causing health concerns more than a decade ago.

Cllr Keena added that he was aware of the matter being discussed at Dáil level and felt the local district should express its support for synthetic cannabinoid products being added to the list of controlled substances that are banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

"I'd like to support the motion," said Cllr Paul Hogan. "It reminds me of the time when we had the unregulated head shops selling all sorts of things for human consumption, like horse tranquilisers and bath salts, etc.

"I would certainly support that these jellies, and spice, and ja-jas, and all the rest of it, would be (banned) under the Misuse of Drugs Act."

Cllr John Dolan said the people providing these products "always seem to be one step ahead of the legislation" and that it was important drugs legislation was drafted in a way that it could be easily amended to include new products as they came on stream.

"It's so annoying that children are being targeted by these products, in the way that they're displayed. That's the shocking thing about this," said Cllr Dolan.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke agreed that the councillors "should add our voices to the disquiet that there is right across the country in relation to these products."

He said he had heard recently that some of the products were being passed around on school buses in the Athlone area.

"That would put the fear of God in you," he said. "With the head shops issue, the Government at the time responded very quickly. Dermot Ahern was the Minister at the time. The current Government now needs to act in the same fashion."

Cllr Vinny McCormack said the manner in which the products were being marketed was "atrocious", while Cllr Tom Farrell agreed that action was needed and said that schools might need to get involved in issuing a warning about the dangers of the products.

Support for Cllr Keena's motion was also voiced by Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran. "I have mothers ringing me and telling me that kids took some of these products, and how highly strung they were afterwards. Anything can go wrong, and anything can happen, with them."

Cllr Keena thanked the councillors for the support and said he had deliberately not mentioned the shop where the products had been obtained, as he didn't want to advertise it.