In the last 30 years Governments have changed, Police Commissioners have come and gone and the National Drug Commission has been born, sidelined and revived.

But one constant remains in Mary?s life ? the drug dealers on her doorstep.

As a resident of St. Monica?s Road, Mary (not her real name) has had to put up with them every day.

What seemed a temporary aberration has become a constant fact of life.

The only thing that has changed is their numbers as a handful of druggies have multiplied.

?Nowadays you have got anywhere from a dozen to two dozen.?

They infest the gateways of the churches. While they know to be polite to the locals their clients can get abusive or block the road.

Some of the people visiting to get drugs have surprised her. ?I have seen people who should have known better.?

But she won?t name names or even give her own for fear of retribution.

The fruits of the dealers trade are obvious as houses go up or get improved without any visible means of financial support.

Occasionally the Police come. ?Not as often as we would like. They make a few busts.?

But usually the lookouts have made the Police?s journey fruitless, something Mary accepts is a constant difficulty given the location.

All Mary can do is keep her head down and pray for the miracle that they go away. But there is no sign they will and every sign that more local boys will be distracted from leading normal lives and fall into to the drug crowd and waste their lives away.

Pledges by Government to crack down on crack houses are met with weary cynicism.

?I have heard it all before.?

Other neighbourhoods need to watch out cautions Mary as complacency is an open invitation.

?When it affects me in my area, somewhere along the line it will roll over your family and your neighbourhood. Whether it is tourism or the economy it is going to effect everybody on the island.

?We have to try to come together to eradicate it.?