Since my arrival in Barbados at the end of June I have very occasionally been approached by drug pushers asking if I wanted to become friends with Charlie or his friend Weed! At this point in time I wouldn’t have thought there was very much cocaine floating about on the island, but now I have seen the other side of paradise.

I have recently returned from an a 11 night break at St Lawrence Gap in a hotel overlooking the beautiful Caribbean Sea, which was by the way a very nice break. It was while staying here I realised how big business cocaine was in Barbados.

During my 11-night stay on the Gap I have never been offered cocaine so often in all of my life, as I have been here. Everyone wants to sell the Wandering Scotsman some cocaine, but I don’t need or want drugs.

I have now seen for myself how big a part of the tourist industry in Barbados that cocaine plays. I’m not exaggerating when I say drug pushers are rife around the Gap area. I was offered cocaine at all times of the day and every day I was there.

I’m curious as to how it can be so easy to get your hands on cocaine in Barbados. I wonder if the Government and police force just accept it as being part of the tourist industry and as a result don’t do very much to deal with the problem. Maybe the money that Charlie and his friend Weed bring into the economy of Barbados is too much for the so-called custodians of the country to do anything to stamp out the problem.

The high profile drugs bust a while ago of a minor UK television personality in Barbados was in my opinion nothing more than just for show. I don’t really think there is much of a desire in Barbados to stop the money that drugs creates for the economy over here. I am hopefully wrong and the new Government will be more pro active in dealing with the drugs problem in Barbados and actually attempt to do something about it.