Why is DR *so* Anti-Drug?

[Mr. Lu]

....

I'm with Mr. Lu on this one. There is far more going on than people are aware about. A few years back crack being cooked on a street corner near my breadshop (which isn't in a barrio) at 11am. I slowed the car down because I thought it was rice crispies (snap, crackle, pop :cheeky and the lookout came over thinking I was a customer.......time to play dumb gringa & drive on. That particular punto has closed, thank goodness. And the business meetings for middle class business colleagues, held in the private home of a well heeled entrepreneur in another north coast town, where the lines were already cut & waiting on a glass topped table in the lounge, no attempt at covering up. I don't indulge but I did work with addicts in the past so I know what some of this stuff looks like. It could be that people who don't partake might not recognise what is in front of them sometimes.

That must have been a shocker on both occasions? How did you react?

I've seen some crazy shyte myself....

But when put into a context, it's not that big a deal...Druggies and drugs are everywhere....

Mr. Lu

 

[cobraboy]

Just say "no" to hypocrisy, and just legailize the stuff. It's not going anywhere anyway anyhow.

:tired:

The worst part of drugs is the violence that goes on to support habits. Oh, by definition, habits won't be going away anyway anyhow anywhere.

Mr. Lu is correct.

Ever see how in-your-face steroids are in gyms? It's folly to think that is isolated abuse.

 

[remedy4]

Beautiful discourse. Thank u to all who are constructively contributing.

So to sum up so far the main reasons cited are:

1) Drug use is much less accepted and much less widespread than "in the West". Users are seen as criminals and garner little compassion. Therefore there's much less pressure for "softness" in laws.

2) Very harsh legal consequences enable a very lucrative police bribes racket.

Let me know if I missed another major one.

 

[tflea]

I can add that over 90% of ALL foreigners in prison in the DR are there for drug trafficking offenses, and the very minimum penalty is 5 years, unless they have money to pay out early. Being a child of the 60's I understand drug use, but Mr. Lu is spot on in his first post, and Cobra is right on the legalization issue in my opinion.
In the US, my home country, the most abused drugs are prescription drugs these days, or so it seems. I call them Oxy Morons.

 

[ExtremeR]

Eh,

We can argue this back and forth. But I'd rather not. I guess the difference is that in the US its out in the open and therefore its easier to define a "drug culture," while in the DR it's all behind the scenes. I mean when both Bush and Clinton were fingered as drug users and some of "greatest" musicians/artists have highlighted the "benefits" of drug use to their careers then the "cultural" aspect is clear. The tabu is gone in the US, allowing a once "subversive" subject to become a common topic of conversation. I mean "4/20" and pot festivals!

So, I can concede that point.

By the way what "Medio" are you in? I don't like "El Medio," the smell of marijuana and E in the air make me nauseas.


Mr. Lu

If you are not in El Medio how can you state what you say with absolut certainty. Isolated spots or "puntos" are in every barrio and even delivery to VIP "clients", but what you won't find here in the DR is that out of every 20 teenager, 18 have tried or do drugs as is the case in USA. But anyway, parece que yo que naci aqui, salgo to' los fines de semana, me muevo pa arriba y pa' abajo, estoy equivocado...If you hear that a folk or two are addicted to that crap, it doesn't mean that we have a "culture" of consuming drugs in the DR. But as you say, it will be better to agree to disagree.

Ps: In what Medio do you think I am referring?? In El Medio that I am referring (Discotecas, Bares, hanging out en la Lincoln, Venezuela) there is no smell of marijuana in the air , that will happen if you hangout around Parque Colon en la Zona Colonial late at night, but then again you wouldn't like to hang out in those places

 

[dv8]

the thing about drugs in DR that interests me the most is the ammount of users among the poor. i did, back in the day, ask about the price of drugs in DR and i was hushed.
don't get me wrong. i am not interested in taking drugs, just in the fact that they seem to be so widespread in poor barrios. now, for a westerner coke in particular is an expensive stuff, given the fact how much of it you need after you become an addict.
i saw many tabloid stories about celebrities spending thousands of dollars on drugs.
here it seems to be food of the poor rather than rich.
i know many rich folks here in POP and none of them does drugs. heck, some of them never even smoked a cigarette, let alone weed! maybe they are not as spoiled as SD kids?
like cobraboy i would like to see all drugs legalized. and taxed.

 

[Mr. Lu]

....

If you are not in El Medio how can you state what you say with absolut certainty. Isolated spots or "puntos" are in every barrio and even delivery to VIP "clients", but what you won't find here in the DR is that out of every 20 teenager, 18 have tried or do drugs as is the case in USA. But anyway, parece que yo que naci aqui, salgo to' los fines de semana, me muevo pa arriba y pa' abajo, estoy equivocado...If you hear that a folk or two are addicted to that crap, it doesn't mean that we have a "culture" of consuming drugs in the DR. But as you say, it will be better to agree to disagree.

Ps: In what Medio do you think I am referring?? In El Medio that I am referring (Discotecas, Bares, hanging out en la Lincoln, Venezuela) there is no smell of marijuana in the air , that will happen if you hangout around Parque Colon en la Zona Colonial late at night, but then again you wouldn't like to hang out in those places

El Medio might mean two different things for us. So, in regards to my definition, I am not in el Medio. I don't have the cash to be in el Medio.

I keep my ear to the streets. I get a pulse, to know what's going on. It's part of my job to know what's going on. Like I said, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The stat of yours "18 of 20...etc..." pure conjecture.

Like I said and will continue to argue, there is a drug culture here, but it is very on the low. No one will speak on their drug habits. It is no different than conversations on homosexuality, gender issues, spousal abuse, sex or class/race issues, in the DR, where the public conversation on the subject is very linear and not honest for fear of public backlash.

I come across people EVERYDAY, people who have cash, and people who are poor, who do their dirty do's and hide it.

I met a mother a few weeks back, has a young daughter and would admit that her and her sister, the wife of a very prominent Dominican politician/government guy, would coke up and had been doing so for years. She described for me "coke and weed parties" at least once a week and detailed for me how many of these very same people in "el Medio" did their coke or still did it.

In a country where public image is everything the MOST important thing to them, is to keep the image proper. So you will never have a "public" culture of Bob Marley T-shirts, but they will still sniff that coke.

And by the way, I was at en event this weekend, DJ Anny at el Puerto de San Souci, an event with the crowd from "el Medio," and yes, guess what was there? The coke dealers were there and the faint smell of marijuana lingered at certain moments.


Mr. Lu

 

[Lambada]

That must have been a shocker on both occasions? How did you react?

I don't shock easily, fortunately, and I can act so on goes dumb bland gringa face, that of she who has seen nothing. This morning I got to the main road at the same time as the transportistas march & within minutes the car was surrounded & being thumped. Dumb gringa smiling face & I summoned one of the many military accompanying the march & let him take it up with the marchers, while I drove like a demented firefly out of the area. If you're really not phased, shocked or scared people pick that up.

 

[Conchman]

Lu is on the money with his perception..

Hell, they used to have Raves at "los Rio", which were held in the small Rio Isabela marina under Jacobo Majluta near my house. Close to the city, but still isolated enough to not draw much attencion.

We went once. They were selling tickets at the gate, and handed us two tabs of extasy. How blatant is that?

Was that event DJ Nick Warren or Satoshi Tommie by chance?

 

[Mr. Lu]

....

Lu is on the money with his perception..

Hell, they used to have Raves at "los Rio", which were held in the small Rio Isabela marina under Jacobo Majluta near my house. Close to the city, but still isolated enough to not draw much attencion.

We went once. They were selling tickets at the gate, and handed us two tabs of extasy. How blatant is that?

Yes, Ive been to Rio Isabela raves. I had a friend who was very big into the scene and helped develop it. Though he was not into drugs, he would tell me the stories of all the E poppers, but beyond that I saw it with my own eyes.

It was the "jevito" crowd who was the driving force behind it. Or even go to Pedro Brand (fincas) or even in Boca Chica, where underground raves are held all the time and the drugs flow freely. I know of a pharmaceutical distributor in this country who is a big importor of pharmacy products. Has parties all the time where the drugs are sitting in bowls. Coke, E, Marijuana, you name it...Like I say, your secretary could be an coke sniffing hooker on the weekends, but you wouldn't be the wiser during the week. Image. That is the DR's culture and the DR's drug culture is hidden below that.

The reason raves are so popular, is because they are by nature underground, so that only those within the niche know what's going on. No one rats on each other for the fear of being snitched on. Unfortunately electronic music has been linked as the defacto place for drugs like E and Coke and within that small group of ravers in the city it is a problem.

Keep your ears to street and you will notice what is going on. Some of your favorite TV personalities and politicians have their secrets....



Mr. Lu