??/??/?? - Leah's message

ANTI-DRUGS campaigners Paul and Jan Betts put their own hurt aside this week to make sure the message from their daughter Leah's death from Ecstasy got home to parents and youngsters across the country.

Paul Betts opened his heart exclusively to the Yellow Advertiser earlier this week. And he again praised the YA's anti-drugs campaign.

On Monday, Paul and Jan appeared on the nation's television screens in a controversial hard-hitting documentary comparing the way the drugs menace is tackled by the Dutch and UK authorities.

"We are making sure that the sadness of Leah's death is used for its maximum potential to get our anti-drugs message home," Paul told us just before Wednesday's inquest was due to open.

"At the inquest, the truth of her death will finally come out - whether the death was self-inflicted, accidental or something else. "The coroner may chose to change the official cause of death - which has so far been said to be Ecstasy poisoning.

A lot has been made by some people of the huge amount of water Leah drank before her death. "But that's a red herring. You can't get away from the fact her death was caused by Ecstasy. Whatever the truth is, it'll come out on Wednesday."

The crusading couple also have plans in April to take their anti-drugs message across the Atlantic to the United States where they will meet US drug enforcement agencies. Mr Betts also said that the Leah Betts Trust, set up to fund anti-drug intiatives in the wake of their daughter's death, has succeeded in raising £5,000.