Smart drug shops closed down in Poland; photo - PAP

Over 900 shops selling so-called “legal highs” or “smart drugs” have been closed down in Poland as the government intensifies its war on what it sees as a new threat to the nation’s youth.

On Saturday, 3,000 police and health inspectors swooped on over 1000 shops selling smart drugs, otherwise known as nootropics.

“We haven’t managed to check all the shops yet because some of them were closed - but we will,” vowed police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski.

“As a nation and as a government, we have to start not only enforcing the law but also finding and plugging loopholes to existing law,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the weekend.

Opposition MP Jerzy Wenderlich from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) said there was a cross-party consensus on fighting legal highs. “The state must win the smart drug war,” he told Polish Radio. “I see no other option and we are all united on this issue.”

Deaths

The crackdown comes after several media reports linking deaths to the drugs, many of which are currently legal in Poland.

On Sunday, a 32-year-old man from the western town of Kepno died after taking drugs he bought at one of these retail outlets, which have become increasingly popular in Poland. A post-mortem will show whether there was a direct cause between the drugs and the fatality, say police.

Last week, two secondary school students were hospitalised in northern Poland after taking smart drugs known as typhoons. The 13-year-olds were taken to an endocrinology ward at a children’s hospital in the northern city of Bydgoszcz.

Also in September, 23 year-old Malgosia from the north-western town of Police died after she ingested up to six tablets. The woman was immediately taken to hospital shaking, losing and then regaining consciousness. In spite of doctor’s efforts to de-toxicate her, Malgosia died.

“The autopsy showed that the death was caused by smart drug poisoning. The woman took six or seven pills called massacrators, which she bought in a smart drug shop in the northern city of Szczecin. We are presuming suicide,” Boguslawa Matecka from the prosecutor’s office in Szczecin told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Tests in laboratories have shown that in 18 cases smart drugs contained already banned narcotic substances.

“We have reports of several incidents of shops selling banned drugs, which can result in two-years imprisonment,” said police spokesman Sokolowski.

“Typhoon [effects of which are reportedly similar to Ecstasy] and other substances have been banned from sale because they are believed to be harmful,” said Jan Bondar from Poland’s Health Inspectorate.

Uppers.com

In 2008, a chain of franchise stores began to open up in Poland  - the first in Lodz, central Poland - under the name dopalacze.com, a web site which had been selling the “legal highs” in Poland.

The most popular drug over the counter is Mephedrone (also known as MCAT) which is chemically similar to amphetamine. The substance – which is linked to 52 deaths in the UK, where “legal high” shops are also common in some areas - has now been classified as an illegal drug in Poland.

Though police are cracking down on shops selling smart drugs, at the time of writing the internet site most associated with their sale was still operating. (pg/mg/mmj)

related story

Smart drug companies in Poland fight back, thenews.pl, 5 Oct