After intense debate over the past couple of years, it looks like such regulation might finally be on the political agenda. The minister with responsibility for drugs, Pat Carey, has indicated that he is considering the prospect of introducing selfregulation at such stores. This would involve shop owners who sell 'legal highs' and 'party pills' regulating themselves by bringing in a uniform policy that insists on over-18 IDs, and mandatory advice and recommendations to customers upon making purchases.

"I've been in discussions with some of the owners of these shops and we've discussed the possibility of self-regulation, " Carey told the Sunday Tribune. "I'd be in favour of photo ID as a requirement, that none of these stores are in close vicinity to schools and that they don't sell anything to people in school uniforms. Some of them are anxious to comply, but I am aware than some of them are run with a cavalier approach.

Nothing is decided at the moment, it's just one thing I'm considering because I would have concerns about some of the substances sold in these stores."

What 'legal highs' can you buy at such stores?

Various different types of synthetic, hallucinogenic stimulants, and certain kinds of magic mushrooms and natural plants. Some of the stimulant drugs are sold in the form of herbal ecstasy, pep pills, super E and speed balls. Amanita magic mushrooms are still legal in Ireland, as is salvia, a hallucinogenic plant.

A form of sage, this plant creates a fiveminute intense period of 'de-realisation'. It creates such strong and unpredictable hallucinations that it is recommended that a sober companion be present when taken. The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) has explored the implications of the increased usage of salvia in Ireland.

The Amanita magic mushroom contains toxic substances which can be fatal.

VHI Healthcare says amanita intoxications are responsible for 90% of mushroom deaths in the US and Western Europe.

The mushroom was not covered under a regulation introduced in January 2006 by Mary Harney under the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 and 1984 to outlaw the sale and possession of magic mushrooms containing psilocybin.

Salvia and the Amanita mushroom are much more hallucinogenic and potentially dangerous than the mushroom banned by Harney last year, according to Michael McDonagh of Crosscare, a social care agency for the Dublin diocese. Crosscare set up a confidential mobile SMS text service last year for teenagers and young people looking for information about drugs.

People can log onto www. drugs. ie, or freetext the name of a drug to 59100, and will get back specific information about that drug and its effects. Frequent enquiries concern salvia and Amanita mushrooms, according to McDonagh.

Why did Mary Harney bring in a ban on the sale of some magic mushrooms?

Harney banned these substances after meeting Eoin and Mary Hodkinson, whose son Colm died after he jumped from a balcony in an adverse hallucinogenic reaction to magic mushrooms containing psilocybin. The 33-year-old bought the mushrooms from a Dublin store and is the only known person believed to have died in Ireland as a consequence of eating magic mushrooms. It was his first experiment with them and although he ate just a few, he reacted badly to the hallucinogenic element and jumped to his death from an apartment building in Dun Laoghaire, south Dublin, on 30 October 2005.

His family campaigned for a ban on the substance, which Harney agreed to without consultation with the owners of the stores. About 50 stores in Ireland sold psilocybin mushrooms before the ban, and many have reacted angrily to what they saw as Harney's "knee-jerk" reaction to Hodkinson's death.

Darcy Petticrew, owner of Himalayan Crafts Ltd in Co Meath, previously sold the now-banned magic mushroom as well as the Amanita, which is out of stock at his store. Salvia is another product he supplies. Petticrew this weekend said psilocybin mushrooms were a far less potent mushroom and that banning their sale "made little sense" when Amanita mushrooms were still legal.

Would self-regulation of these shops work?

While Carey is considering it, Crosscare's McDonagh is adamant that it would be a futile exercise. "It would be a step but not a very positive one. It sounds like another way for the government to wash their hands of this problem. Any time I've gone into these shops, I've seen kids in uniforms buying substances, " he said.

"The people running these shops have been saying for years that they only sell to over-18s and they give warnings, but some clearly don't. There needs to be independent state regulation of these shops so that there are penalties if they sell substances to kids. Self-regulation will not do that. We have great faith in minister Carey and he's already been very proactive, but we would like to see some definite, workable plans for regulation of these shops."

McDonagh said that he did not favour the outright ban of many of these 'legal highs' but said stricter monitoring was needed. "Our main fear is the information some kids are being given at some stores.

They are being sold BZP [herbal ecstasy] and told it will bring them up. When they want to come down, they are being told to take salvia. Some of them are acting as pharmacists and this is very dangerous, " he said.

According to Petticrew, self-regulation is already in operation in his and many other alternative lifestyle shops: "Most of the shops are responsible. I personally don't sell any of the party pills, because I only support substances that get you high naturally. But I don't necessarily think that they're dangerous."

How can something that grows naturally be banned, and will other 'legal highs' soon be banned?

Until January 2006, it was illegal to sell hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms if they were processed . . . although not in their raw state . . . but the new regulation banned them completely.

Magic mushrooms grow naturally and seasonally throughout the country. Hundreds of people pick them for their own consumption, and their use as a hallucinogen dates back to Celtic times. Those opposed to the ban say that eating wild mushrooms is far more dangerous than buying them in a store, as people have little clue as to their potency.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) recently recommended a ban on BZP, found in herbal ecstasy. This ban would apply here if the European Council acts on this recommendation, which it has indicated it will. Carey has also told the Sunday Tribune that there are other substances he has "serious concerns" about, and that more substances may be outlawed.