Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Travel discussion for St. John
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Exit Zero
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Location: virgin islands

Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by Exit Zero »

A town hall meeting in STJ was recently dominated by the public discussion of the open sales of drugs in town. Some interesting points were raised.

A nice report from "The Source" is here:

http://stthomassource.com/content/2017/ ... als-again/
54b
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:40 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by 54b »

Interesting, thanks for posting...this article may have been about more than just marijuana, but I was curious what locals think about the potential legalization of pot.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts...seems like if there was a store or two in Cruz Bay that sold it legally, it might diminish a lot of the sales on the streets. But I'm sure that approach is fraught with a bunch of unintended consequences I haven't even thought of.
It’s not about yesterday or tomorrow...It’s about today, for come what may – Sun, rain, or hurricane – we've only time for a smile, and none for sorrow
mizarumonkey
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Joined: Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:19 am

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by mizarumonkey »

Unintended consequences - liiiike,

- greater tax revenue?
- less money in hands of gangs, resulting in fewer unlicensed firearms purchased?
- more laughter?
- more options of activities for cruise ship tourists to partake in?
- greater use of fallow agricultural lands??

Hm. Doesn't sound all bad to me.
54b
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:40 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by 54b »

No, those are obviously observable intended results...I don't know what would be an unintended consequence...maybe some type of dynamic shift in STJ's economy that makes it more attractive to corporate investors so much so that Cruz Bay looks at lot more like Cancun in with tons of chain stores in 10 years.

I don't know, I haven't thought that deeply about it but from reading his posts over the past 8 years, I figure Exit Zero had.
It’s not about yesterday or tomorrow...It’s about today, for come what may – Sun, rain, or hurricane – we've only time for a smile, and none for sorrow
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XOXO
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Location: Midwest USA

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by XOXO »

Wait. Wait. Wait. There are gangs in St. John??

:wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

Are they in bikini's or speedo's?

I'm not going to weigh in on legalizing but, thank you Exit Zero for posting. I find your inside scoop interesting.
equineannie
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Location: Florida

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by equineannie »

Anyone questioned how many of the police are in on the deals? I know when I lived on St Thomas, there were quite a few. They got their payoffs at Coki Beach, in full view of everybody. Remember the shooting death of the young girl, there, on a cruise ship tour? That was during a drug deal, cops standing on the side.
iheartsj
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Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by iheartsj »

Everyone talks about marijuana but the real drug dealing problem is cocaine and crack.

Current law makes weed a misdemeanor citation with a fine of $100-200. At the meeting with the VIPD, we were informed that the police do not have citation books for marijuana infractions. They are waiting for the "courts to provide" them.
Just passing the buck.

Concerning the involvement of law enforcement. A few years ago the head of enforcement for the Dept of Planning and Natural Resources in collusion with a ranking police officer from Cruz Bay were arrested for running cocaine.
iheartsj
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by iheartsj »

Everyone talks about marijuana but the real drug dealing problem is cocaine and crack.

Current law makes weed a misdemeanor citation with a fine of $100-200. At the meeting with the VIPD, we were informed that the police do not have citation books for marijuana infractions. They are waiting for the "courts to provide" them.
Just passing the buck.

Concerning the involvement of law enforcement. A few years ago the head of enforcement for the Dept of Planning and Natural Resources in collusion with a ranking police officer from Cruz Bay were arrested for running cocaine.
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XOXO
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Location: Midwest USA

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by XOXO »

There is so much corruption. I knew St. Thomas had some dirty officials and police but didn't know about St. John.

Surely, St. John doesn't have gangs, right?

It is sad what is happened to so many tourist destinations.

So much of what I have read leads me to believe that there is a lot more violence, drugs, and theft up and down the Caribbean and Mexico.

Dirty cops and dirty gov't officials seem to be par for the course. The locals are the ones who suffer.
dctac
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Location: Tip of SJ

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by dctac »

my humble opinion....pot shouldn't be considered a " drug" like coke and heroin. ..come on... consider legal alcohol .......what's worse...............
Exit Zero
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Location: virgin islands

Re: Drug selling in Cruz Bay

Post by Exit Zero »

equineannie wrote: Remember the shooting death of the young girl, there, on a cruise ship tour? That was during a drug deal, cops standing on the side.
That is not accurate at all - the shooting was certainly gang related but it was during a funeral for one of the members, and a retaliatory move, not during a drug deal and the police were there for peacekeeping - not just standing on the side.
A very good reporting of the incident is here:

http://www.eturbonews.com/17255/suspect ... in-islands
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