Attending college in the Northeast after growing up in a small Midwestern town nestled in the cornfields provided many “culture shocks” to say the least. One of the most memorable was the prevalence of cocaine usage among students. I was surprised to find out that cocaine was the popular drug of choice for many girls my age. Whether it was for the weight loss affects or just the appeal of staying up all night to party, I still could not grasp that people were really into this drug that seemed so hardcore to me. Aw, my little naive freshman self. How cute.

We all know about the supposed celeb cokeheads like Lindsay Lohan. I mean, a picture says a thousand words, right? But, I would venture to say that cocaine really has become a staple among college nightlife scenes. The New York Times investigates cocaine’s popularity as well and suggests that it is now much more socially accepted.

“There seems to be less of a stigma about cocaine,” said Dr. Herbert Kleber, director of the division of substance abuse at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in Manhattan…“People don’t feel nearly as much the need to hide it,” he said. “They feel that they can use it in a more open fashion.”

And the rates have gone up as well among young people. According to a survey by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there was a 20 percent increase in past-month use among 18-25 year olds in 2005 from 2004.

Not only has it become more accepted, but some people suggest it is even more accepted than smoking cigarettes nowadays. I found that shocking, personally.

“Tom Sykes, a former night-life reporter for The New York Post who chronicled his alcohol- and drug-fueled life in the memoir ‘What Did I Do Last Night?‘ said that cocaine is more socially acceptable than smoking. ‘You could go into a swanky party in New York and do a line and nobody would notice,’ said Mr. Sykes, who is now sober. ‘Pull out a cigarette and people would think you’d pulled out a gun.’” NYT.

There is no denying that cocaine is a major player in the nightlife scene in big cities, and in my opinion, on college campuses.

What do you think? Is cocaine the new weed?