Jeff* sits in UConn’s Student Union, waiting patiently for his mother to finish talking to him on his cell phone, contributing the occasional “yeah, mom” or “sure.” At the end of her long winded monologue, he told her he loved her. Then another, more enunciating voice answered back, asking whether he’d like to save or delete the message he’d just heard.

He was visibly taken aback; his friends picked up on it and laughed at the junior year student. They knew the reason his mind drifted while listening to his messages enough to push him to start talking back -- he was high.

“The thing is, I’ve done a lot of stupid and funny things when I’m high but I’m usually high, so I don’t remember much of them,” Jeff joked about his blazed blunders.

Jeff, who has maintained a 3.56 grade point average throughout college while smoking pot once or twice a day, considers these embarrassing moments to be among the drug’s short list of negative effects. At the drug’s worst, he said, you might feel a headache, fatigue or depression, but said its positives include excitement about life, removal of anxiety and boredom and feelings of energy.

“I think it’s harmless for the right people, if you’re like, smart about it,” he said while his girlfriend Melissa, a sophomore student agreed.

According to Jeff he and Melissa smoke about 50-75 percent of the time they’re together, and both cite its stimulating relaxation as a primary reason to do so, though Jeff says much of his smoking is habitually driven.