| I'll join in the chorus reiterating what dietcokewithlime said. Drinking is definitely a big part of the weekend (and, spring term, Wednesdays) for many Carls, just as it is for students at any number of other colleges. Alcohol is less centered on big parties here than it seems to be at other schools. Rather, you generally find small groups of friends having some drinks, a result of our lack of frats most likely (I don't know what the situation is like at Vassar, but this arrangement may be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view). There are always a ton of activities on weekends, though, that are well-attended by both the moderately liquored-up and the sober.
Occasional pot use seems pretty widespread here, but that might just be a result of who I know. The numbers of people who smoke every day or multiple times a week are low because of the aforementioned expense of weed here and also because most Carls are wary of impacting their studies. Hard drugs are nonexistent, for all intents and purposes. I know 3 people who dropped acid once. There are sometimes whispers about shrooms. But as for coke, X, anything else... I saw more of that in high school than I do here.
I wouldn't call Carls old-fashioned as much as just down-to-earth. If I may be permitted to generalize, most people don't really care if you smoke up regularly or if you never touch the stuff. Most wouldn't register any serious moral qualms about the use of psychedelics, nor would they castigate you for abstaining even from alcohol. Beyond expressing a mild interest in, say, trying shrooms exactly once, I haven't heard any Carls register any particular desire to try substances other than weed or alcohol. It's a nonissue, not a moral issue. Bottomline: there's not enough of a big party scene to support hard drug use and Carls aren't hip enough to care about that anyways.
YMMV. | 
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