Kelly says he was set up, the photos were staged, he is the victim of an extortion attempt.

He threw out a statement to this effect and dived into the nearest hole under a dark cloud . . . or should that be white blizzard . . . of suspicion. Any cub schooled in PR could have told him that that move was about as dumb as a public representative shovelling cocaine through his hooter at a party.

If his contention is true, then he should have come out fighting like a wounded animal, lashing out at his tormentors. If he has been naughty, the best course of action would have been to throw himself at the mercy of public opinion. He could have repented and made a career on the back of his misdemeanour as a politician who actually acknowledges a reality of modern, affluent Ireland. Cocaine, as Robin Williams once pointed out, is God's way of telling you that you have too much money.

And there is bagloads of both the white and green stuff swirling around wherever the young middle classes party these days.

In the absence of a grownup discussion on this development, we have a vacuum that is being filled with hypocrisy and ignorance. The tabloid media reacted to the story with outrage, yet cocaine is far more prevalent among media luvvies than, for example, among dentists or bus drivers.

But far more interesting is the reaction to Kelly's travails among politicians. Fianna Fail sources have indicated that he will be booted out of the party if the photos turn out to be genuine. The tone of condemnation suggests that it is not the illegality that is the problem, but that the activity is morally repugnant.

Surprisingly, there was little reaction among politicians when earlier this year a tabloid reporter discovered traces of cocaine in a toilet in Leinster House. Where was the outrage that drug fiends were apparently stalking the nation's seat of power?

Bertie Ahern, when asked about Kelly, said: "I abhor drugs, the use of them in any form." This, of course, is utter garbage. The Taoiseach regularly celebrates his love of Bass, a brand of the drug alcohol, which, according to health professionals, does more physical and emotional damage in this country than all other moodaltering drugs put together.

A recent report by the home office in the UK found that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful to the nation's health than LSD and ecstasy.

Cocaine may be more dangerous, but, in the consumerist society we have created, it's hardly morally repugnant if some people have more money than sense. Bertie's indulgence of his drug of choice is both healthy and moderate, but so too is that of a large swathe of the young who indulge in illegal drugs every weekend.

It is currently fashionable to make the tenuous link between gangland killings and the Fionns and Sorchas who enjoy a little toot at the weekends. Far less tenuous is the link between the government's failure for seven years to fulfil a commitment of bringing in random breath testing for drunk drivers.

How many hundreds might be alive today if the politicians had acted in a less morally repugnant manner?

Was their lack of will in any way associated with their affinity for publicans, who, let's face it, are drug dealers of a particular hue?

The hypocrisy is breathtaking, ignorant and self-serving. And there is little hope of tackling the growing problem of the consumption of all drugs if some small truths aren't acknowledged.

Meanwhile, councillor Kelly might look for guidance to another man who enjoyed a line or two in his youth.

These days, Ben Dunne runs gyms, a place of refuge for all those cubs trying hard to sweat out all the bad stuff after another crazy weekend indulging in various drugs of choice.