Middle-class drug use laid bare in new book

A politician, a priest and a pilot rely on hard drugs to get through their working days, a new book sensationally claims.

The forthcoming ’High Society – Drugs and the Irish Middle Class’ claims many professionals regularly use illegal substances such as cocaine.

Author Justine Delaney Wilson was working on a TV documentary when she persuaded a major dealer to take her with him on his rounds supplying customers.

“I’ll turn my cameras off if you take me with you,” she recalls telling the dealer.

The first stop was a well-known solicitor’s office where a bag of cash was handed over for a quantity of drugs.

Delaney Wilson quickly discovered that many professionals in Dublin rely on hard drugs on a daily basis including a politician, a priest, a pilot who flies out of Dublin Airport and a hospital medic.

The book is due to be published by Gill & Macmillan in September and a tie-in TV documentary is also being screened.

“It is an explosive exposé of middle class drug use which forces us to re-examine out stereotypical views of exactly who Irish drug abusers are,” said a spokesperson for the publishers.

Other Gill & Macmillan books being published this Autumn include a biography of George Best written by his sister Barbara and a biography of Eurovision winner and former MEP Dana.

Unsuccessful Fine Gael general election candidate Jerry Buttimer has also penned a diary of his experiences on the hustings in the competitive Cork South-Central constituency.

The Autumn catalogue also includes Nealon’s Guide to the 30th Dáil and Seanad.