Derry City and Strabane District Council has vowed to work alongside police in the battle to stamp out the sale of so-called “illegal highs.”
A blanket ban on sale of drugs came into effect at the end of last month.
With the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 , the Council is now able to use new powers to help stamp out the sale of such items.
The new legislation was discussed at a meeting of the Council’s Health and Community Committee.
The meeting was told that the use of “legal highs” have been responsible for users engaging in anti-social behaviour and criminality and have also led to a number of deaths in Northern Ireland.
However, a Council officer said enforcement action taken by local authorities across Northern Ireland against sellers of such drugs hadresulted in a reduction in the amount of shop-sold legal highs to *practically zero.”
Under the new act, the council will have four new powers to tackle shops selling “legal highs” - Prohibition Notices, Premises Notices, Prohibition Orders and Premises Orders.
Any breach of the orders will constitute a criminal offence.
Elected members were told officers from the council’s Environmental Health Service wouldl continue to monitor the Council area and respond to complaints about retail supplies in conjunction with the PSNI.
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