<p>Hmm so I stayed at Columbia for the last three days. As soon as I walked into EC on a Saturday night... I was overcome with a particular "smell". I think most of you know what I'm referring to and I won't go into details. But is "it" prevalent at Columbia? Because when people started shouting out the windows at 4 in the morning and the "smell" growing stronger by the minute, I can't help but wonder if all CU students are a bunch of pot heads.</p>
<p>Welcome to college.</p>
<p>Do you think you're cool/crafty by trying to avoid the use of the word "marijuana" and instead referring to the "Smell" or the "smell" or "it"? And you sort of blew it when you wrote "pot head[]" as the last phrase of your post. Kind of defeats the purpose of you telling us that you think most of us know what you're referring to.</p>
<p>I think it's pretty short-sighted that you would think that it was marijuana caused "pot heads" to "start[] shouting out the windows at 4 in the morning." Have you ever heard of a drug called ALCOHOL? Have you ever considered that such people may be DRUNK?</p>
<p>welcome to college, amen. if you want to avoid weed, it's basically Bob Jones University for you.</p>
<p>Nobody will ram it down your throat, at parties a few people will usually leave to go upstairs and smoke, if you want it you can find it. Nothing worse than anywhere else, really. Maybe a little more coke than at suburban schools, but it's still not a "problem".</p>
<p>truazn8948532,</p>
<p>You visit the wrong place. You should have visited BYU.
No all CU students are a bunch of pot heads.</p>
<p>Every school has drugs and alchohol, of course. But in comparison, is there a lot of pressure to do drugs everywhere I turn? I know there'll be plently of people who do have addictions to the stuff, but does everyone smoke/drink/insert-drug-of-choice?</p>
<p>Pressure to do drugs here? I've never experienced anything like that. In fact, I know quite a few people who have even abstained entirely from alcohol.</p>
<p>One of my daughter's first year suitemates was a regular pot user. My daughter wasn't interested in smoking and did not want her room to reek of the stuff. She and the suitemate worked it out and I never got the impression from our conversations that it was a big deal. </p>
<p>Drugs and alcohol are used and/or abused at most colleges. If you choose not to and are comfortable with saying "No, thanks." the person offering at the other end (unless they are a jerk) is usually fine with it. </p>
<p>IMHO - and keep in mind that my memories of college life are from many, many (!) years ago - pot people are not that pushy about their drug of choice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My daughter wasn't interested in smoking and did not want her room to reek of the stuff. She and the suitemate worked it out and I never got the impression from our conversations that it was a big deal.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>How did they work it out? There really isn't a way to compromise. You're either going to get the person to stop, or you won't and your stuff/room will smell.</p>
<p>My guess is the roommate goes off and smokes elsewhere...</p>
<p>I assume that part of the time the suitemate went elsewhere and on other occasions there was the classic wet towel under the closed doorway between the bedrooms with the smokers bedroom window open and a fan blowing outward. It was a two bedroom suite and I didn't ask for details. I sent a kid off to college that for the most part does what she wants to do and not what someone else pressures her to do. I would be "tiger mom" if I thought that anyone or anything was going to hurt my daughter but I saw this as the part of college life that is about learning to deal with people.</p>
<p>Gotcha.</p>
<p>I just see the "goes elsewhere" as a victory (or a loss) rather than a compromise.</p>
<p>there is no pressure from anyone. the druggies here (as my orientation leader siad) would much rather keep their things to themselves than to spend time drag you into it.</p>
<p>I think think there is a winning or losing in this situation, since most columbia students arn't jerks, if they are doing something that you are not comfortable with, either talk to your RA and get a room transfer(do that early in the begining of the year) or talk to them about it and sort it out.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Every school has drugs and alchohol, of course. But in comparison, is there a lot of pressure to do drugs everywhere I turn? I know there'll be plently of people who do have addictions to the stuff, but does everyone smoke/drink/insert-drug-of-choice?
[/quote]
I never felt pressure to do anything. I hung out with a lot of guys many of whom happened to smoke pot, and I would occasionally get offered stuff, but it was never a "hey, we need to smoke steve up tonight" sort of pressure.</p>
<p>I didn't have a single drink freshman year either, I started drinking a little socially sophomore year (mostly at bars when watching baseball), and 'got the hang of it' without going too far. WindowShopping has made it through several years at columbia without ever having a drink. Of course, if you want it it's there pretty easily.</p>
<p>And one of your statements is flat wrong. There won't be "plenty of people who have addictions to the stuff". If you know two addicts, you're hanging with an unusual crowd. I know one person i'd describe as an alcoholic (and dated her for a few months - bad idea). I was a little shocked the first time I went over to play poker with my usual crowd and someone brought out some grams of coke and started doing lines - I guess it was the weekend after midterms and was thus celebration time - but almost nobody smart and motivated enough to get into columbia falls into a totally self-destructive spiral.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I was a little shocked the first time I went over to play poker with my usual crowd and someone brought out some grams of coke and started doing lines - I guess it was the weekend after midterms and was thus celebration time
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Kids from fancy prep boarding schools?</p>
<p>one was from sharon, MA - jew central - and a public-school kid, another was from lower-middle-class brooklyn, and i'm not sure about Rob. sprinkled in was a public-school kid from tennessee, myself a public-school kid from lexington MA, a girl from hawaii, and some jersey guys. I think one of the jersey kids went to a prep school.</p>
<p>The real entitled kids played at Saint A's, and when Ben and Chanelle got cocky they'd go play their $50 buy-in games and take the preppies for a ride.</p>