Pib said:
Dominicans frown upon the use/users of drugs, anyone would be more than happy to call the police if they thought you are using/dealing drugs.
According to the US Govt. (grain of salt here): The Dominican Republic has more drugs entering and exiting the country than most of their neighbors.
Drugs are used by Dominicans (as in other free countries).
The difference is that drug use takes place behind closed doors, most drug dealers either have police connections or ARE the police, and nobody is going to call the police about someone else using drugs (or most any other crime) unless they stand to profit from the call.
Drugs are the domain of organized crime in the DR. The DR is mainly a passthrough point along the distribution trail. The "hard on drugs" is a fisad used to keep this distribution trail open and the big boys are not going to let a bunch of "attention attrating" recreational users threaten this cash cow.
Repeated points:
Most drug dealers either have police connections or ARE the police. Nobody is going to call the police about someone else using drugs (or most any other crime) unless they stand to profit from the call.
These two statements emphasize why it is so dangerous for the casual user or tourist to buy or use drugs in the DR. Likely, someone will gain by arresting you. You or your family will likely quickly pay a lot of money to get you out. Even if not, your addition to the drug arrest statistics helps protect the distribution trail from scrutiny.