Is it true though? Or are the tabloids just running exaggerated fantasies to harpoon mass appeal? It’s hard to know because these grandiose lifestyles are perpetuated by the attention drawn to them (unless the celebrity is actually talented). Case in point — the Kardashian sex tape.

Bad publicity is good publicity, I suppose… especially for the venues that become associated with celebrity attendance (who doesn’t want to go to places where you might see a rockstar in a bar fight or catch Paris Hilton stripping down to… well… a slightly more naked version of her usual self?).

When talking about club publicity, nothing turns up the temp on a particular venue more than the drug habits of the celebrities. The scandalous behaviors of one Miss Britney Spears has made headlines for a variety of clubs in New York including an all time personal favorite, Marquee. Yes, she has been caught using drugs in the public bathrooms all around town and she’s not the only one. The question then becomes, of course, how many drugs are being done in these places? Certainly you run a high risk (pun intended) of being caught abusing drugs if you are a celebrity, but what about us ordinary folk? Are drugs swimming through the clubs as the tabloids would have us believe?

The answer is YES. I would never consider myself a drug abuser, but I know first hand that almost every club I have been to has it’s own underground microcosmic drug scene. Club Stereo was closed last year after several cocaine busts, though this came as no shock as Stereo was known for being “pot friendly” and leaving the club was like opening the Scoobie Doo van (smoke pouring out). Tenjune turns the other cheek when it comes to smoking the reefer in the VIP section and won’t ask why there are so many girls leaving the bathroom with runny noses. The real shocker comes from Le Souk where I witnessed some special k being snorted in the wide open.

I have also witnessed people getting arrested. Again, Club Stereo, you win in this department with flying colors. On two — no three occasions I witnessed drug raids there, but in the end, drug use was far far more frequent than the arrests that were made. This can probably be said true for almost any club and can be said especially true for celebrities. Amongst my celebrity encounters few involved sobriety (or much respect for, I dunno… THE LAW). Indeed, the Studio 54 mentality lives on in places like Bungalow 8 (where you might just order “a rum and coke.. hold the rum”).

These scenes are often under the radar of the public because of tight security. It’s nearly impossible to get in unless you know someone, ARE a celebrity or (at the very least) have your very own assistant. Places rarely have to answer to the law because undercover cops simply do not fit the demographic of these super-dooper (more like super-doper) high-end venues.

This doesn’t mean that the celebrity lives we read about aren’t embellished to perfection, but it certainly adds validity to the stories. The truth of the matter is, we aren’t living lives so separate from those we read about and if anything can be learned from the tabloids, it’s two things: 1) where the drugs are 2) where people get caught doing them.

Yup, it may seem weird, but there has actually been a correlation found between these two habits that are characteristic of many college girls; constant dieting and smoking.

Although smoking rates have gone down in the U.S. (thank God because it’s absolutely disgusting in my opinion), a new study from the University of Florida reports that starting to diet somehow doubles the odds of a teenage girl starting to smoke as well. Although the study was done on girls slightly younger than college age, I think the findings are implicit of our generation too.

According to one of the researchers, “Dieting was a significant predictor of initiation of regular smoking among females…We were expecting that this relationship was going to be stronger among females. That has been well-documented, especially because (nicotine) can suppress your appetite.”

Duh.

I would say that the appetite factor is one of the main reasons many college girls start smoking. I can name three people off the top of my head that were not smokers at the beginning of college and eventually became one of those stick thin girls pulling out a cigarette the second she gets out the door of any building.

The chain of events goes something like this:

1) Girl feels fat at college

2) Girl cuts back on eating

3) Girl starts losing weight

4) Girl gets compliments and attention due to her thinning figure

5) Girl freaks out about how she is going to maintain this weight loss

6) Girl realizes cigarettes suppress appetite

7) Girl, being disillusioned by lack of food, decides the weight loss benefits of smoking will outweigh all the other horrible hazards

8) POOF! Girl is now a smoker!

The study offered up some more interesting facts regarding dieting and smoking in females as well…

One of the researchers said that it’s possible that dieting itself makes people more vulnerable to smoking because animal studies have shown if creatures are extremely food-deprived, they will use more drugs.

Makes sense, right? Most people gain some sort of pleasure from satisfying their hunger, so if people can’t do that then they would try to get their satisfaction from another source, like drugs?

Okay, okay, I’m not saying that anyone who is hungry will become a druggie. But, I just don’t think it’s so far-fetched of an idea.

Moral of the story: Put down the cigarette and go eat a SANDWICH.