DR. WALLACE: I take exception to the advice you gave the 19-year-old girl whose fiance gave her three weeks to stop smoking or he'd leave her. Your advice seemed a bit zealous when you told her she'd be choosing smoking over her relationship if she didn't meet his demand. But in your haste to condemn smoking, you seemed insensitive to the fact that it may take her longer than three weeks to quit. If you know that smoking is a bad habit, you must also know that it is addictive and can be a hard habit to kick that may take longer than 3 weeks. Also, I might point out, that in the reverse of this situation, the fiance has chosen his aversion to a bad habit over his love for his future wife, and this seems just as shallow. If the two really care for each other, they should be able to find common ground on this issue to save their relationship. Demanding a pack-a-day smoker to quit in 3 weeks or face abandonment seems a little harsh and maybe even unrealistic. —Nameless, Gary, Ind.

NAMELESS: I like your response to the 19-year-old girl's problem better than my response! I hope she and her fiance are together and are still reading my column so they can take your advice and forget mine.

MY DATE DOESN'T "TURN ME ON"

DR. WALLACE: I'm 16 and have been dating a guy for two months. We met at a mutual friend's graduation party. He is sort of cute and has a great sense of humor, and we have a good time when we go out. We also have a lot in common, namely politics and women's rights.

My concern is that he doesn't turn me on romantically. I get no "charge" when he kisses me. Sometimes I wonder why I even allow him to get that close to me. What should I do — stop seeing him so he can find someone else who will appreciate him or continue seeing him until someone better comes along? — Nameless, Ames, Iowa

NAMELESS: It isn't necessary to fall in love with every guy you go out with. It's possible to have an enjoyable time on a date and not have it result in a serious romance. Continue dating this guy until you meet your one and only.

U.S. TEEN PREGNANCY RATE TWICE THAT OF CANADA

DR. WALLACE: I keep reading about all of the pregnant unwed teens in the United States. Is this basically a U.S. problem, or does it exist throughout the world? - Abby, Ontario, Calif.

ABBY: The non-profit Center for Population Options conducted a study that disclosed that more than 500,000 babies are born to teen mothers in the United States each year. More than 50 percent of the pregnant teens are unmarried, and 93 percent of teens who have babies choose to keep them rather than placing them with adoptive parents. Seventy percent of pregnant teens also fail to graduate from high school.

Statistics also reveal that one in 10 American teenage girls becomes pregnant each year, and when today's 14-year-old girls leave their teen years, 40 percent of them will be, or will have been, pregnant.

In the United States, the teen pregnancy rate is twice that of Canada, England or France, and seven times that of Holland. The United States is the only developed country where teenage pregnancy is increasing.

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.