Counter Culture

This intriguing and racy read centres around the tragic death of Ecstasy victim, 18-year-old Leah Betts, in Basildon. The author of the book was part of the drugs gang who supplied the fatal pill.

O’Mahoney claims he wrote this book to set the record straight and ease his conscience (no mention of financial reward!). Unlike the writers of other memoirs of a gangster type, he admits to carrying out cowardly actions and being on the receiving end of violence numerous times. The world he inhabited is drawn in some detail, showing how drugs can change once-pleasant personalities and ruin friendships. To his credit, O’Mahoney does not glamourise this world of easy money and high risks.

To me as a Third Way supporter the whole crux of the book reinforces the wisdom of our policy of drug legalisation and control. The present mass demand for illicit “designer” drugs has enabled dangerous and violent criminals to gain unprecedented wealth and power based on clubs and pubs across the land.

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