No, I’m not being peer pressured (my guy friends aren’t begging to give me their weed for free…they want it for themselves!); I’m just curious and I sorta want to see what all the fuss is about.

And, yes, I know it’s technically illegal, but we’ll just skip that part and look at it realistically, shall we? Since we’re normally all law-abiding, good college students who would never do anything wrong or illegal, obvi. (Like those 2.5 years in college where we were under 21….)

Love it
Or rather, my friends love it. They always tell me about how good they feel afterward, like “a balloon that has just been released to go float among the clouds.” (Yeah, he was already high. I didn’t really get it, either.) Some claim it even helps them work better, especially for creative writing papers and art class. It relieves stress, helps you sleep better, gives you confidence (for my shy guy friends to ask out girls), and just makes you happier in general.

I’ve also heard friends say it helps with headaches, toothaches, and even sex. Oh, and I’m told some movies (like Pineapple Express) are ten times better high than not (which might be why I didn’t like it that much). Medically speaking, it helps thousands of people relieve the pain they suffer from glaucoma and many other maladies, so it can’t be detrimental to your body, right? I mean, even Michael Phelps is doin’ it and he’s the best athlete in the world!

Loathe it
It’s illegal.

If you’re caught with it, you could be fined or go to jail or, worse, your parents could find out and you’ll be forever labeled “the girl who does drugs” at family reunions. It also makes your clothes smell, makes your wallet lighter, and makes you on the lookout for your hit next constantly. (Editor’s Note: Or your next bag of chips. Those munchies are brutal, girlfriend.) You could get addicted and keep spiraling down and do things you normally wouldn’t do, like stealing and cheating just to get high again.

Also, I live a pretty healthy lifestyle (except the occasional tailgate) and don’t want to do anything harmful to my body, especially something dangerous and illegal like weed. It reminds me too much of smoking, which I absolutely hate, and I can’t help but wonder deep down that it’s illegal for a reason. Just what is it doing to people’s insides?

When it comes down to it, there are so many other fun things to do with my friends than light up a joint and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my life so far without it, so why change? I would rather spend my money on those Alexander McQueen booties I saw at Fashion Week anyway. But I’m in college and college is about experimenting, so I’m completely torn.

Help?

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like coed rommmates!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Well, now that group sex is on the menu, it seems like a good time to clarify an age old debate – what is cheating? Some say it’s sex, others say kissing, still others say even thoughts can be cheating, so now it’s time to voice your vote ladies; in a world of committed threesomes, phone sex and the office wife, what really counts as cheating?

We’ve all heard the old “zip code” rule and it’s variants – “it doesn’t count if you’re not in the same zip code/state/country/bedroom” and I for one have never bought into it, but there might be some others that I would at least consider more forgivable. Level of alcohol, for instance, could definitely be a factor, and the same goes for drugs. Anything mind altering at least makes it slightly more reasonable that you didn’t know what you were doing.

But then, what were you doing? Sex? Sex would definitely cross my “cheater” line, regardless of who it was with, and I don’t buy that “oral/anal isn’t really sex” thing either. But what about making out? And how many kisses qualify as making out? Or is it just kissing, because I have certainly had some kisses where I was not a willing participant.

Then of course you get into the kinky sex idea – is a threesome cheating? How about swinging? If both parts of your relationship are willing partners, it doesn’t seem like it should count as cheating – but at the same time, I can’t say that I wouldn’t want to do this if I saw my guy with another woman (I admit, I’m the jealous type). But then, what if I was with another woman? If a girl who’s not inherently sexually attracted to women has an experimental night, is that cheating too? (Note: my BF says it’s OK as long as I video it. Thanks, honey.)

And what happens if there’s nothing physical? We’ve all heard the phrase “emotional affair” thrown around and the idea of the office wife is pretty common, so does non-physical cheating still count? It would be a lot harder to detect, and a lot harder to accuse someone of. In fact, an emotional affair, in a lot of ways, would be like having a best friend, except that there might be some potential for sexual attraction. At what point does a close, personal bond cross into cheating territory?

Ok, so I’ve posed a lot of ideas here – now it’s time for you to do the heavy-lifting. It’s time to tell the world what we really think cheating is. The horizontal mambo? A little tongue-hockey? Or is there something more to it altogether?  Duke it out, girls!

Remember the days when a chaste woman wore a white wedding gown and saved herself for the honeymoon? Me neither. Times are changing, and so are society’s views on sex. Just look at prime-time television.

Gone are the days when the big Dawson’s Creek episode was the one that kept everyone glued to the screen trying to guess whether it was Joey and Jack, Pacey and Andy, or Dawson and Jen who finally took their relationship to the next level (remember that one?). Instead, we’ve got Blair and Chuck’s one night stand in the back of a limo (definitely remember that one!).

Outside of the small screen, relationships in the real world are dwindling. “Dating” is becoming a thing of the past, and casual sex is flourishing. The value of the once-prestigious “first time” isn’t such a big deal for many of us as it was for our mothers, aunts, or even our older sisters. Hell, my first time was not the stuff that teen romances are made of, but I walked away without any permanent emotional scars and afterwards, since it was out of the way, I was able to make better choices regarding who I chose to sleep with.

And yet, I couldn’t help but be surprised when my younger cousin proudly announced that sex was one of her favorite activities (albeit with a steady boyfriend, but still). Just a few years age difference, and there’s still a difference in our mindsets.

Sure, there are still plenty of people out there who put a lot of pride into their virginity, and hold out for a long time. There are still plenty of cherries being popped in the honeymoon suite, after all. But our society’s views on sex can send out mixed signals. People who haven’t found “the one” by a certain age begin to feel alienated by their more-promiscuous peers. Nobody wants to be likened to the Forty-Year-Old Virgin, do they?

I don’t think it’s such a big deal. In fact, I think that once you’ve lost it, you can start to enjoy sex, be adventurous, and learn about your partner’s (and your own) body. Why wait for such a wonderfully erotic experience?

That said, I’d like to know: how many CollegeCandy readers out there expected rose petals and fireworks when they finally relinquished their v-card? Furthermore, how many of you just gave it up because you were curious? Whatever the less-than-fairy-tale way we may or may not have lost it, I’m willing to bet that hardly any of us walked away tarnished with a Scarlet Letter.

Saturday night: You’re at a frat party. You just won three consecutive games of beer pong. You don’t think twice about drinking your cups, despite the fact that you’ve seen the ball land in other peoples’ used cups, roll along the basement floor, and watched the ball pass between thirty-something unwashed hands.

What gives?!?

Obviously, beer pong isn’t the most sanitary party game out there. But you have the “water cup,” right? That cup of tepid, dirty water is totes gonna disinfect that old, recycled ping pong ball (that was most likely found under someone’s bed 10 minutes before party time). Or not.

Some microbiology students at George Washington University decided to test exactly how detrimental to your health beer pong can be. If you like beer pong, you may want to skip this article.

After a somewhat mild night of beer pong, consisting of eight students and thirty beers, the budding scientists collected samples from each of the beer pong cups and the water cup. What’d they find? A haven for germs. Bacteria from the E. Coli, salmonella, and pneumonia families were present in every single test tube containing samples from the game. Oh, and that water cup that everyone used to clean the balls? That was the most infected, and housed the most bacteria growth over night.

This study centered on beer pong only, but what about other potentially sickening games? When’s the last time you did a kegstand, putting your mouth on the tap that’s been who-knows-where after a dozen other people slurped down a few seconds worth of brew? How about the time you stood in for flip cup, and rotated through other peoples’ cups round after round?

We put our mouths everywhere when there’s cheap beer involved (and some of us really put our mouths everywhere), but we’re super cautious about where we place our ASS when we’re in a public place? Just some food for thought.

Not that you have to quit beer pong — hell, no! To be just a tad cleaner, change out the water cups and beer pong balls throughout the night, and keep your own beer cup to drink out of after the ball hits (just dump the shot’s worth of beer into your own cup).

Alcohol is bad enough for your immune system; don’t give germs a better opportunity to take up residence in your body.

UT – Austin surveyed 52 men who were asked to test the scent of 18 worn t-shirts worn by women in various phases of their menstrual cycle. Almost all of the guys in the experiment, 1 guy was gay – so his doesn’t really count, found the shirts worn during the girl’s period to be the most enticing.

Sadly, this is when a woman is least fertile…therefore, least likely to get pregnant.

But, when Aunt Flow comes over to stay no one is really excited to jump into bed anyway…

So, other than all those religious fundementalists who think womens’ ovulation is dirty and unnatural, every other man thinks it is when we are at our sexiest.

The question is, how eager are WE to have sex during our period?

There were some presents given and drinks were drunk and my mom even called to sing me a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

However, I noticed this a year a disturbing trend I hadn’t seen in years past: The ever so casual Facebook birthday message…which is both really typical and totally impersonal.

I must say that while it was totally nice to see my comment page fully loaded with birthday wishes I had to remember that not every single one of my friends had dutifully remembered my special day. Facebook had kindly reminds everyone that I am connected with my birthday was coming up.

I find this to be a good reminder tool, but friends should not rely totally on the Facebook birthday wish. A card would be nice kids, or even a phone call. My address and number do happen to be listed right on my profile.

The Facebook birthday wish only says, “I feel an obligation to post on your birthday that I didn’t remember, but I have no time to do anything else.”

Lame, kids. Really really lame.

So, as an experiment, next year in the month or so prior to my big day, I’m planning on removing my birthday from my page and see exactly who remembers. I know some of them will, and the ones who don’t I now have more information on.

I am imploring all of you to do the same.

The five year old inside of me has decided to come out, and she doesn’t want a dozen Facebook comments. She wants presents, lots and lots of presents.