FUSS OVER LEAH BETTS 'BECAUSE SHE WAS PRETTY

THE parents of Leah Betts, the ecstasy victim, yesterday criticised a
drugs expert for suggesting her death received nationwide attention
only because she was photogenic.

Rowdy Yates, director of the Scottish Drugs Training Project, told a
social science seminar at Stirling University that nobody would have
heard of Miss Betts if she had been "fat and pimply". Dr Yates used
the example to highlight his claim that the drugs policy of successive
governments was "driven by the perceived need to respond to public
outrage at the latest scandal". He said progress would not be made in
the war against drug abuse until long-term funding was made available.

Last night the girl's mother, Janet Betts, 51, a nurse, said: "Leah
would have been extremely flattered to have been called photogenic but
that is not the reason people took notice. If she had been fat and
pimply I would have shouted just as loud. That is not the issue.

"The issue is that she was a young girl with all her life before her
and it was taken from her for such a stupid, damn reason. It was more
the age she was and the circumstances. Parents at the time were
beginning to get worried about ecstasy. Leah was the catalyst."

Dr Yates, 49, whose organisation trains professional drug counsellors,
said Miss Betts's death was highlighted because of the efforts of her
parents. "She was a pretty teenager and there were good photographs of
her. There was an added irony that her mother was peripherally
involved in drugs education and her father was an ex-policeman. They
were an articulate couple who felt they had something to say.

"In that year, many, many more young people would have died from
sniffing volatile solvents. We don't hear about them because it
happens in socially-deprived estates where the parents are very often
inarticulate and they don't have pretty pictures of their kids. These
deaths are tragic, too, yet they are never addressed or responded to."

Miss Betts died five years ago after swallowing an ecstasy tablet at
her 18th birthday party. Her death prompted her parents to begin a
crusade to warn other youngsters about the dangers of drugs. The
couple recently moved to Scotland, where they have continued their
campaign, giving talks at schools.