- Thread starter Ken
- Start date
Juan Perdomo On Crime & Prostitution On North Coast
- Status
It's an old ploy that happens to be true. It may not be the reason for the downturn in Sosua but the reality is that drugs and prostitution are linked.
Personally I like Sosua beach. That's being said, drugs and prostitution is linked because the same kind of people who like prostitutes usually like drugs as well. Drugs are always in tourist areas even if there aren't prostitutes. As a tourist, I agree that the prostitution does hurt Sosua in terms of being a family destination. I'd support sending them all to a red light zone and jailing the ones that hang out on PC in the street. Other things have to be addressed to make it a family destination such as the beggars, pickpockets, robberies, road conditions, lack of street lighting, etc.
Even with improvements, I don't think Sosua will be a family destination. Families go to AIs. They are perceived as safe. Most American tourists think anything outside the AI walls is unsafe. If you're going to make a non-AI family destination, you have to have police that are completely unequal in the treatment of tourist vs local to the point that most locals will just stay away and you end up with a majority tourist zone. Look at 5th avenue in Playa Del Carmen.
Even with improvements, I don't think Sosua will be a family destination. Families go to AIs. They are perceived as safe. Most American tourists think anything outside the AI walls is unsafe. If you're going to make a non-AI family destination, you have to have police that are completely unequal in the treatment of tourist vs local to the point that most locals will just stay away and you end up with a majority tourist zone. Look at 5th avenue in Playa Del Carmen.
I question the finical acumen of those who are willing to pay 400-500K for real estate in the DR.
Even if you have play money, most people like a return on investment.
The world is their playground with better returns, personal safety and infrastructure.
You can question it all you want ( I do as well. ) But money talks and hooker BS walks.
Is there a drugs problem in Sosua? If there is, I can't say that I've seen any evidence of it. I don't go looking for drugs and I've never used them. But I've been out with the boys on a night out in Sosua, in all the bars, chatting to the pretty girls enjoying their "hard sell" then politely turning them down. I may occasionally offer to buy them a drink for their company, but that's usually as far as it goes. The pretty girls predominately were very friendly and gave off the impression that they were more like enthusiastic amateurs who actually enjoyed making a living from doing something quite pleasurable and genuinely need the money to send to their families or children, or perhaps buy the latest smartphone. I didn't get the impression that they were enslaved into their chosen profession to sustain a drug addiction.
In the eight years I've been doing that in Sosua I've never been offered drugs nor have I ever seen any. Maybe I'm just very naive!
I always thought that the DR was a transit country for narcotics, not a user market destination.
In the eight years I've been doing that in Sosua I've never been offered drugs nor have I ever seen any. Maybe I'm just very naive!
I always thought that the DR was a transit country for narcotics, not a user market destination.
Sorry, naive. There is massive drug usage amongst the girls.....the moto guys even more.
It will be interesting when these people try and sell these condos 5 to 10 years down the line and they find out they are only being offered 150,000.
It's there. I've only spent a few weeks in Sosua on vacations, and I've encountered it, but it was always other tourists that offered. I think its something that you have to be looking to get, but tourists I've met there told me that things are easily available. Despite the obvious risks, some tourists pursue it. It's not nearly as out in the open as other countries that I've been to though.
I watched a drug deal take place in broad daylight on the main street in Cabarete the other day. Many people know how some of the moto-conchistas supplement their income, even if (like me) they have never used or bought drugs here. If I know, then you can bet the police know. If they spent less time harassing chicas and more time arresting the real crooks, the community would be much better off. But then that's not really in their interest, is it?
So I assume that the drug in question is Cocaine that probably comes from somewhere in South America like Columbia. And I'm sure that if I wanted some, I could simply ask someone in Pedro Clisante of an evening where I could buy some and a moto rider would be here within minutes of my enquiry.
However, what I am trying to get at is that I thought that usage of drugs like cocaine is usually by people who can afford it as it is supposed to be quite an expensive habit.
I can't see that in the DR, the locals can afford to get addicted to cocaine. After all, how many Dominicans smoke cigarettes? Not many! Of course there is bound to be a few individuals who are addicted and have turned to crime to feed their habit. But to me this seems to be more of a first world problem rather than a third world one.
I have a hard time believing that everyone in Pedro Clisante at night time is a junkie.
However, what I am trying to get at is that I thought that usage of drugs like cocaine is usually by people who can afford it as it is supposed to be quite an expensive habit.
I can't see that in the DR, the locals can afford to get addicted to cocaine. After all, how many Dominicans smoke cigarettes? Not many! Of course there is bound to be a few individuals who are addicted and have turned to crime to feed their habit. But to me this seems to be more of a first world problem rather than a third world one.
I have a hard time believing that everyone in Pedro Clisante at night time is a junkie.
Not everyone who uses drugs develops a serious addiction. Based on what I've encountered, people in poorer countries use intermittently. It's true that they don't have enough money to develop a daily habit, but when they get extra money, they can buy a small quantity for themselves. While they may only use 5-6 days a month, there may be 50-100 people doing the same thing, and it creates a drug economy even if it is on a smaller scale that large US cities.
Most girls use....would not call them junkies though. Many use pot, some of the more hardcores use cocaine. How do you think they get through nights with us?
- Status