Synthetic cannabinoid HHC or Hexahydrocannabinol has been classified as an illegal drug by the Government.
This means that the import, export, production, possession, sale and supply of products containing the man-made substance is banned.
HHC, as well as 13 other substances, has now been categorised as a Schedule 1 controlled drug Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
In a statement, the Department of Health said: “The semi-synthetic cannabinoid has similar effects to cannabis and has been commonly sold as e-cigarettes or vape pens, in herbal mixtures, oils, edible jellies and cakes and as tinctures.
“Since it was first detected in Ireland in 2022, it has been linked with episodes of psychosis and hospitalisation.
“A recent study by researchers in University Hospital Galway (UHG) found that HHC was the second most common drug used by patients presenting with psychosis over a 21-month period.”
The announcement comes after the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland said earlier this month it “beggars belief” that products containing the drug were still available without restrictions.
HHC has caused major damage to people’s mental health, the college added.
It produces similar effects to the natural ingredient in cannabis – THC – that causes the drug’s high.
HHC is “one of 14 new substances, including synthetic opioids and semi-synthetic cannabinoids, that have been newly classified as controlled drugs,” the Department of Health said in its statement.
“This follows their identification by the EU and by the UN Commission for Narcotic Drugs as posing a serious risk to public health.”
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: “The sale of HHC as vapes, in attractive packaging, or in edible jelly form, is a marketing ploy aimed at young people, which masks the fact that this drug is harmful for youth mental health and can be addictive.
“Our priority is to advance measures that enable us to protect and support the health of our population.”
Frustrating that decision took so long – psychiatrists
The Chair of the Addiction Faculty at the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland said it is frustrating that it took so long to ban HHC.
Professor Bobby Smyth, who is also Clinical Professor of Public Health and Primary Care at Trinity College Dublin, said that many European countries had outlawed it months ago.
The worry is what will happen next, he told RTÉ’s News at One.
“How quickly can vape shops take HHC off the shelves and replace it with something similar but different?”
Because HHC has been in Ireland for years, he said he is concerned that some customers will have gotten used to it and that increases the demand for a similar alternative.
Adding it to the Misuse of Drugs acts gives added powers of enforcement to gardaí combatting the trade in illicit drugs.
Prof Smyth queried why they do not fall under the Psychoactive Substances Act, that ended the problem of so-called headshops in Ireland, which had been able to change their products to legal substances after the drugs they were selling were made illegal on a case-by-case basis.
He said the act was the “final nail in the coffin” for the headshops.
“Ultimately, I’m a doctor, Prof Smyth said, and “I saw fewer psychotic patients after headshops were banned and I want to see this happen again.”
