Around campus the smell of cannabis fills the air, groups of students sit and chat, enjoying their time in between classes.

Smoking weed is becoming accepted around the country, and it’s no surprise that college students are treating the drug more like cigarettes in recent years.

Studies have shown that weed smoke is not nearly as harmful as tobacco smoke, and there is little to no addiction in the drug, unlike tobacco.

People can meet up and chat, have a good time and enjoy and share their different strains of cannabis all while staying, for the most part, healthy.

“It’s just the social aspect of hanging out and smoking weed that brings people together,” said an anonymous 30 year old geography major while enjoying a joint with a group of friends after class.

Who could really argue? Why be afraid of such harmless fun?

In recent studies, the major problem found with being high on cannabis is the associated loss of short term memory, which should be an alarm to students not to get high before class.

“I find it nearly impossible to remember what I have learned when I’m high. Whether I’m in class or studying, all the information around me seems to be forgotten the next day,” said a 19 year old UC Berkeley, political science major. “After I learned this about myself, I have decided to just smoke (weed) after I have finished my work as a reward, but never as a part of my daily life anymore.”

So perhaps with the new availability of cannabis, students should treat it more like alcohol, and not like tobacco. Where they should only be smoking the substance when there is no work to be done, and try to refrain from smoking the drug before class.

“Most people are running to and from class,  and they don’t come to school to hangout,” said a 20 year old allied health major.

That’s more of what this college needs, a social scene where students aren’t just on the Diablo Valley campus for class, but instead, come to school also to hangout.

Perhaps it’s something about the act of smoking that brings people together. It seemed to be the same way with tobacco, before studies showed how detrimental it can be to one’s health; now with a nearly accepted form of smoking (weed), people now socialize again sharing the same smoke filled experience.

Smoking weed comes with an outlook similar to alcohol: don’t operate a vehicle, don’t smoke while pregnant, and make sure to stay responsible.