Since the beginning of this year, a total of 12 assaults, some of them by robbers armed with guns or knives, have taken place at ‘smart shops’ in the Algarve, according to police figures revealed last week.
A smart shop is an establishment selling psychoactive substances, or so-called legal drugs.
Smart shops in the areas of Faro and Portimão have been the target of regular attacks since January and the main suspects are addicts seeking alternatives to illegal drugs.
Eight of these occurred in the Faro district, where three suspects were identified and one arrested and held in custody. One of four assaults in the Portimão area was carried out by a man armed with a revolver.
The concern by the police of what appears to be a growing problem comes at a time when a government working group has been formed to analyse the legislation relating to the sale of smart shop drugs, which are believed to provoke psychotic attacks and aggressive behaviour similar to the effects caused by taking illegal drugs.
Police say they are worried about the situation and aim to pursue a rigid policy of investigation on the criminal repercussions of addicts seeking drugs which can be bought legally from smart shops.
Aggressive behaviour
Meanwhile, a shocking case of a 37-year-old drug addict, who relied on products bought from a smart shop in Albufeira and who became uncontrollable and threatening towards his parents, appeared last week in the Portuguese newspaper Correio de Manhã.
An interview with the man’s parents revealed that since the age of 20 their son had become addicted to hard drugs including hashish, heroin, cocaine and crack and had served a prison sentence for trying to kill a trafficker and rob him of cocaine.
After his release three years ago, he turned to legal drugs bought from a smart shop in Albufeira, but for his parents it was a “living hell”.
“Since he started to consume these products, he became totally uncontrollable, threatening me and his mother and he stole things from the house,” said the 72-year-old father who had to call police on several occasions. On another occasion the man ran naked through the streets after consuming a drug.
The story revealed that the parents had been forced to make their son sleep in a tent in an adjoining backyard because of his disturbing behaviour.
