WA MP attacks bong shop in parliament

The rapidly growing Cloud 9 chain of Perth smoke paraphernalia stores has found itself in the national spotlight after West Australian federal MP Alannah MacTiernan accused it of selling illegal drugs.

Under parliamentary privilege on Thursday, Ms MacTiernan said she had watched activity and antisocial behaviour around a Cloud 9 Smokeshop, within 200 metres of a primary school in inner-city Perth.

With customers often seen waiting from 8am for what was ostensibly a bong and pipe store to open, and also seen "popping pills in their cars" it was hard not to believe that its prime business was selling drugs, she said.

The chain is already under intense pressure, having been raided by police several times and its owner, qualified pharmacist Hoang Nam Nguyen, facing Customs charges over the importation of ice pipes and also possible police charges.

Ms MacTiernan was referring to a store in inner-city Mt Lawley, one of 10 Mr Nguyen owns.

Politicians including state MPs Eleni Evangel and Michael Sutherland and media descended on the store on Friday as customers queued up waiting for it to open, with staff saying they had "discontinued" selling any herbal substances.

A staff member asked AAP to leave from its city store in Barrack St, with Mr Nguyen telling employees not to talk to media and putting up a sign saying "We do NOT sell Herbal incense".

Ms MacTiernan criticised the police for taking too long to raid the stores, given the WA government introduced legislation making synthetic or psychoactive drugs illegal last November.

"It is just ridiculous, there is a whole lot of aggressive behaviour ... a lot of really strung out people queuing up, creating a great deal of aggression, passed out on a back lane and comatose in their car," she told AAP.

Mr Nguyen, 33, did not return calls on Friday and when contacted, the Edgewater pharmacy in which he was previously listed as being a partner said he no longer worked there.

WA police said it was visiting and targeting any person or business possibly involved in selling psychoactive substances recently made illegal.