<p>UCSC certainly does have a hippie stereotype <em>well-deserved, IMO</em> and yes, the student body is fond of weed and alchohol. It is, in such respects, pretty much like every other public university, and most private universities, in the country. If you’re living in the dorms, you will grow accustomed to the smell of people smoking. It’s hardly omnipresent, but you will probably become accustomed to detecting it. People not paying attention to the rules about smoking cigarettes were rather more aggravating, for me. They did it constantly and were usually lacking in basic courtesy for those of us who didn’t want to be, and should not have been, downwind of them when they lighted up.</p>
<p>Most of the colleges have a “substance free” dorm or appartment which you presumably requested when filling out the housing questionnaire. That will hopefully keep the smell of marijuana down, though it will probably not help any in avoiding alchohol or tobbaco. People are just about never pushy in getting you to join them, though, and if you have a portable fan, that can be of some help. I don’t think, overall, you will have much of a problem. The most that will happen is that you will occasionally get annoyed at someone. In all liklihood, people burning incense and setting off the fire alarm will cause more aggravation than pot or alchohol.</p>