'Tween 12 and 20 by Dr. Robert Wallace

DR. WALLACE: I've noticed that you lump all drugs together and label them all as "evil." I smoke marijuana regularly. You will never convince me that smoking pot and doing heroin and cocaine are equal "sins."

I enjoy smoking pot, but I would never consider doing any other drug. So please back off saying bad things about marijuana, which, by the way, has been legalized in Canada. In fact, I would be willing to bet that smoking tobacco cigarettes is more harmful than puffing pot. — Randy, Boston.

RANDY: I'm against the use of all illegal drugs, but I'm well aware they are not equal in terms of addiction and physical harm. Marijuana does far less damage both physically and emotionally than the majority of illegal substances, though the jury is still out on whether the substance is addictive.

But don't kid yourself that smoking marijuana is harmless. It can cause severe physical ailments. Please read the following article that appeared several years ago in Sassy magazine. It was in response to a person who wrote in asking if smoking pot was harmful:

"Yes, the use of marijuana is harmful to your health. Smoking pot regularly breaks down the immune system, which means the user will be sick more often.

Marijuana smoke also messes with the smoker's lungs big time, even worse than cigarettes because the smoke is held in the lungs for a much longer period of time. Continual use of marijuana will lead to chronic bronchitis (inflammation of the airways), bronchial spasms (like asthma attacks) and eventually emphysema (collapse of the airways).

There is also medical proof that marijuana users develop what is called A-motivational syndrome, which means they become apathetic and lose interest in school, have trouble learning and do not care about their futures or much else — except having another drag on a marijuana cigarette."

PARENTS BEST SOURCE FOR SEX EDUCATION

DR.

Of course, I sent a letter requesting that our daughter be excused. I am very unhappy that our school district encourages the teaching of sex education. I think our school board has exceeded its authority by including a course that should be taught by parents, not teachers. Who is better at discussing sexual matters with teens than their parents?

Please give me your opinion on sex education being taught in the public schools. — Mother, Johnson City, Tenn.

MOTHER: I agree that parents are the best source of information about sex and related matters. Unfortunately, not all parents are as concerned and motivated as you are to provide the best sexual education possible for their children, so they rely on the second best source, the school. And second best is better than no sexual education at all.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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