A question about weed consumption (serious)

[CapnAwesome]

I'm not personally a weed consumer, even tough I've tried it a few times. I'm curious about something:

From reading in international forums, talking to friends who've traveled and observing real life experiences and interactions, it seems Americans (and maybe Canadians and Australians too, but I don't know) smoke just weed, or "pure weed" like we call it in Europe, whereas Europeans mix it with tobacco. Why does it work like this and why do some people prefer one method over the other?

As far as I'm concerned, most of my friends who smoke prefer hashish, not actual weed, because it is cheaper, however many say that it will not burn correctly if it's not mixed with tobacco, so they mix it with rolling tobacco (like Amber Leaf) - Plus, people usually tell me that smoking a joint with "just weed" is very strong even for experienced users. Others tell me that the amount of weed needed to get several people high doesn't justify putting weed in a whole joint, so they mix with tobacco. I'm kinda noob on this, so could someone explain it to me? And how does real weed distinguish itself from hash? Most of my friends who smoke, have these solidified brown bars, that you remove a piece, burn it with a lighter, mix with tobacco and roll it in a king size paper with a handmade filter tip (it can be made out of cardboard, paper, whatever, but people don't use actual filtertips for rolling tobacco). 

Thanks for the replies

I've smoked weed in about 10 different countries. The difference in them is pretty astonishing. Hash is processed weed. So if you are smoking what looks like a natural plant or part of a natural plant, that's weed. There are different ways to process it which turns it into hash. What your friends are smoking is definitely hash. Most Europeans (and Australians) smoke weed with tobacco because there is just more tobacco consumption I think. It also helps something like hash burn easier, it's harder to light pure hash and harder to smoke it straight. South America they tend to smoke whole joints, but their weed is shittier so you could smoke a whole joint to yourself. In the US (and Canada) you roll a joint and you have to be a champ to smoke it by yourself, so it's more of a social thing. Other than that people smoke out of pipes or bongs. I think the hash culture of Europe is more a result of a lack of a good climate to grow strong weed. All the best weed is American or Canadian. I've never run across good weed anywhere else in the world.

I don't smoke tobacco and don't like it, but if you don't mind it, mix it up.