Marijuana smoke puffed out of George's mouth, and his faint smile behind the smoke screen was enough to ignite anger.

Why would the Collegian print a front-page story about how one student spends his weekends smoking pot? Where is the journalistic value?

The story in question, "Student finds enjoyment from lighting up," was the third installment of a weekly series called "Weekend Tales." It ran Monday.

We've only received a few complaints about the story. But as one infuriated caller put it, we were making a "mockery" of the legal implications of drug abuse and the faulty beliefs some drug users have.

This was complicated by the fact that a story ran on the same page, coincidentally, declaring that 11 students had been arrested in a drug sweep.

Some readers who wrote in wondered what "kind of message" we were sending to students.

The message isn't that smoking pot is a great time that should be had by all. The message is that of reality: Some students here spend their weekends exactly like George does.

They light up - almost every day. They get high - almost every day. Some of them actually think marijuana boosts their grades or athleticism.

These people exist, and continue to exist even as others are arrested on charges of using the same substance.

This is life.

The "Weekend Tales" series is intended to give us a glimpse at how different kinds of students use their weekends. We'll be going beyond the typical go-out-and-drink weekend that you might be familiar with.

Among more than 40,000 students, we have quite a diverse range of interests here. And some of those interests might require the reader to step outside his or her comfort zone.

The way some students prefer to spend their weekends is, indeed, by just smoking up.

We simply reported what George does and what he believes. You and I don't have to agree with that.

And it's nothing more than unfortunate that others are currently in jail while George smiles from behind his bong.

The story was intended to be an informative one, not an entertaining one, but also not an investigative one.

As you'll find out in future stories, other students spend their weekends playing card games. Some are strippers. A few have the heavy responsibility of being bouncers. Yet others smoke weed virtually every day.

These are slices of life in State College. If we ignored them, pretending they didn't exist, then we'd be lying to you.

And the last thing we want to do is lie to you.