You Didn't Lie, but You Broke the Rule

DR. WALLACE: Please hear my story, and then give me your reaction. I'm 14 and have a friend who is a good person, but my mother doesn't like her. So, I'm forbidden to hang around with her.

Last week, this girl called and asked me if I wanted to go roller-skating with her on a Saturday night. I asked my mom if I could go skating with a friend on Saturday night, and she said yes if I get home by 10:15 p.m. Well, I went skating with my friend and got home before 10:15 p.m., but I'm grounded for two months. When I was at the skating rink, my mom called my other two friends and was told that they hadn't seen me.

When I got home, my mom grilled me about my friend. When I told her it was Ellie, she blew her stack and grounded me for two months. Mom said if I continued to complain, she would make it three months.

That's why I'm writing to you. Maybe if you agree with me, mom might reduce my sentence. After all, I didn't lie. I was with a friend. — Jade, Erie, Pa.

SARAH: True, you were out with a friend, but since you were forbidden to be with her, you broke the rule. But if you promise not to socially see this girl again, mom might reduce your punishment!

STOP HARPING ABOUT THE DANGER OF SMOKING POT

DR. WALLACE: You keep harping that smoking pot can cause the same cancerous effects as smoking tobacco, but you never seem to back up your harping with scientific data. Put up or shut up! I'm an avid pot user, and I enjoy every second that I'm high on this totally natural plant. You are just trying to scare people into not using marijuana. Shame on you! — Josh, Toledo, Ohio.

JOSH: Ouch! You really laid into me. I admit that sometimes I deserve it — but not this time. Please read my response slowly and carefully, and when you finish reading, cut out this column and tape it to your refrigerator as a reminder.

According to the Academy of General Dentistry, smoking marijuana cigarettes may lead to cancer of the tongue and other parts of the mouth and neck, including the larynx and esophagus.

Researchers at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sidney, Australia, have studied patients who smoked marijuana and developed tongue cancer. Because none of these patients smoked or chewed tobacco or drank alcohol, which could have led to similar consequences, researchers believe that smoking marijuana could have been the sole cause of the disease.

Because of this study, marijuana appears to be linked to cancer of the upper airway and digestive tract. One explanation, according to the research team, is that marijuana smokers tend to inhale the smoke rapidly and deeply, which leads to a faster deposit of tar and other organic compounds in the respiratory tract.

A previous study was conducted with 200 smokers of hashish, the resin from the marijuana plant. The results showed that 87.5 percent had upper airway complaints.

Dr. Eric Shapira, a dentist, states that a marijuana cigarette may not only deposit its poison faster, but also dumps four times more tar in the mouth and upper airway than a tobacco cigarette. Marijuana also contains about 50 percent more of the cancer-causing organic compounds than tobacco. Tobacco is also a natural plant, but we all know the physical damage it can cause a smoker.

I'm not trying to scare you — I just want you to know the facts.

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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