DR. WALLACE: I smoke marijuana, and I'm also known among my friends as a true and dedicated pothead. I read your column, but I always disagree with your "don't do it" advice when it comes to teenage sex and smoking pot.

Let's face it: Marijuana is a benign drug, and it can't be lumped into a category of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. Instead, it's more like alcohol, and alcohol is a legal drug.

Just for your information, multiple former presidents enjoyed getting high on this wonderful weed. So if some of our former leaders got high, what's wrong with me toking a little weed here and there? I enjoy weed about four or five times a week, but I can function at my job just fine. — Ganja Aficionado, Hayward, California

GANJA AFICIONADO: All presidents are humans, and, like us all, are guilty of making mistakes and breaking the law from time to time. Right now, marijuana is not legal in every state, and back at the times our former presidents confessed to using it, it was illegal across the country.

Let's forget for a moment about the wonderful highs that marijuana smokers claim they enjoy from inhaling weed and focus instead on some health considerations.

Anytime a person inhales smoke into their lungs, physical damage occurs to some degree. That's why I encourage teens to refrain from smoking any substance, including marijuana, cigarettes and even corn silk. And beyond just the smoking of cigarettes or joints, we now know the terrible danger that vaping can bring in some instances, particularly those where bootleg or black-market cartridges are used.

YOUNG MOTHER HAPPY NOW

DR. WALLACE: When I was 17, my daughter was born. The baby's father and I had a lot of support from my family, so we decided to keep my baby and also have me finish high school. I was a very scared and confused young girl when I was pregnant. Now I am a single mother in my early 20s, and my little girl is joy of my life! I could simply not think about a life without her in it.

I used to be so worried about what my high school friends would think about me becoming a mother, but they actually gave me a baby shower! It was wonderful; all my friends came to see me and my baby in the hospital, and it made me feel so relieved that nobody sought to ostracize me for giving birth as a young woman out of wedlock. I can honestly now say that having my daughter was one of the happiest days of my life.

I know that having a child so young and keeping that child is not a decision every pregnant teen girl will make, but I just wanted to let your readers know that in some instances, it can work out fine. Each teen girl should think carefully and make her own decision if she finds herself in the same position I found myself in back then. — Happy Single Mom, via email

HAPPY SINGLE MOM: Thank you for sharing your inspirational story with our readers. I agree that each young lady should carefully think through her options and make her own decision, especially after receiving counseling and advice from trusted friends, relatives and professionals. Your story provides a glimpse into one possible outcome, and I am happy that things worked out well for you.

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 [email protected]. 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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