POLICE PLAN CLAMP DOWN ON SHOPS ACCUSED OF GLAMORISING DRUG USE

Police are to launch a crack down on retailers who display
drug-related paraphernalia, because of fears they are glamorising
abuse of illegal substances.

The businesses, known as "head shops", operate entirely within the
law but the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is devising
new rules on how police and local councils can work together to
combat "community concerns" about the stores.

The guidelines are expected to see police and trading standards
officers demanding changes to the way stores operate, and could even
lead to the authorities demanding that items are taken off display.

Head shops, which first surfaced in the 1960s, offer a range of
products linked with illegal drug-taking such as hookahs, "bongs" or
water pipes, scales for weighing drugs and machines to grind
substances such as herbal cannabis.

Many also offer "legal alternatives" to cannabis, as well as T-shirts
and other products bearing images of cannabis leaves or marijuana
cigarettes and which depict drug use in a positive light.

Tim Hollis, Acpo drugs spokesman and chief constable of Humberside,
said: "There are concerns that head shops make drugs seem legal. It
is not illegal for these shops to exist and there are things local
authorities and the police can do.

"It is not as simple as making them illegal, but we will be producing
good practice guidelines to give ideas on how to solve the problems,
because the shops are causing concern for communities."

An Acpo spokeswoman declined to give any further details of how the
guidelines will operate, or what powers officers propose to use
against businesses whose activities are not breaking the law.

Neighbourhood police teams are expected to play a key role in the new
project, working with council departments and other agencies to
decide which shops to target.

The National Policing Improvement Agency has set up a team which is
developing the new document.

A spokesman for the agency said: "The NPIA is working on guidance for
Acpo which is due to be released to forces around March of this year."