Pot is a Part of Student Life

Wednesday's Frat Boy News Pause for the Cause

Florida State University (compiled by John W. Cox, The Miami Herald)

Almost every week of their college lives, Chris and Gabriel have done something illegal.

Chris and Gabriel, along with millions of other college students, smoke marijuana and think nothing is wrong with it.

Almost 35 percent of U.S. college students -- nearly six million -- said they had smoked pot in their lifetime, according to the spring 2006 National College Health Assessment by the American College Health Association.

In fact, one in five students -- more than two million -- said they smoke every month, and in Florida, monthly smokers are 5 percent higher than the national average, according to national surveys and the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey.

''It's gotten higher apparently over the years,'' said Chris Franzetti, assistant director of health promotion at Florida State University's Thagard Student Health Center. ``We don't think we know why, to be honest with you. This whole marijuana issue is something we've just started focusing in on.''

Chris, a B student at FSU, is an articulate, soft-spoken accounting major. Gabriel is a marketing major at Florida International University who also makes Bs.

''It brings people together for sure,'' said Chris, who along with Gabriel spoke on the condition that his last name not be used. ``I wouldn't chill with half the kids I do in Tallahassee if they didn't smoke.'