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What's Worse: Alcohol or Marijuana Use?
DR. WALLACE: The guy I date is a "pothead." He smokes a lot of marijuana. Sometimes he even smokes marijuana while he is driving. He says that he is in complete control at all times, even when and after he has smoked pot. He says that …Read more.
I'm Afraid to Tell My Parents He's 20
DR. WALLACE: I'm 17 and recently met the sweetest most wonderful guy in the world at a friend's wedding reception. So far, all we have done is have lunch together twice on a Saturday afternoon. I'd really like to see this fellow on a regular basis (…Read more.
Why Take Geometry? I'll Never Use it
DR. WALLACE: I'm 17 and will be graduating from high school in June. I've enjoyed my school year. I've made many friends and have enjoyed learning with most of my teachers. My only complaint is that schools teach things that most students will never …Read more.
Yearly, 7,000 Lives Are Saved
DR. WALLACE: I'd like to know why we have a stupid law in the United States that requires a person to reach age 21 before legally consuming a drop of alcohol. I am a college freshman at Miami University in Florida and if I have a glass of wine at …Read more.
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Female Athletes are Good Citizens and ScholarsDR. WALLACE: My parents are avid readers of your column and most of the time they agree 100 percent with your advice. Many times our family will discuss your daily advice and sometimes we "debate" on whether or not your advice was excellent, very good, average, below average or terrible. My parents have never given you a terrible, but I must admit that I've graded your answer terrible twice. But that's not bad because our newspaper picked up your column about two years ago. But now the time has come when I need your advice with an "excellent" response. I'm 15 and a good student. I also am on the junior varsity tennis team. This makes me feel very happy. I love being on the team. My grandmother, who lives with us, is trying to convince my parents that girls should not participate in athletics because it is not "lady like." Please inform my parents that playing sports is an asset and is, indeed, very much "lady-like." - Nameless, Dallas, Texas NAMELESS: Several years ago Sassy Magazine did a survey on female high school athletes and found that they are 92 percent less likely to become a drug user, 80 percent less likely to be involved in sexual activity and three times more likely to graduate. Besides the benefits of regular exercise, which promotes good health, female athletes also, on the average, have higher grades than those girls who do not participate in athletics.
I'M GOING TO LIVE FOREVER DR. WALLACE: Why do teens have such a high number of drug abusers? Also, why are teens so vulnerable to smoking and drinking? Is it because they want to act grown up? If so, they're making a huge mistake. - Cindy, Dixon, Ill. CINDY: Acting grown up is a part of the reason, but teens also feel invincible and do not fear the consequences of using addictive substances. The Department of Health and Human Services conducted a survey on drug abuse and found that teens see less harm connected to using drugs than the rest of the population. Each year, thousands of Americans die from abusing cocaine, but only about half of the teens surveyed believe there's a great risk in using this highly addictive drug. And only 49 percent of the teens surveyed thought that smoking a pack of cigarettes a day would harm them, compared to two-thirds of the general population saying they felt it would. Why is there such a big percentage difference? Blame it on youthful exuberance and the "I'm going to live forever" philosophy. That's why the tobacco companies are able to attract 3.000 new smokers every day. 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. Email 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. COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM
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