I found the Aug. 31 Knight Ridder News Service article "Youthful health mistakes that will come back to haunt you" quite offensive. As a youth minister, I deal with teen-agers on a regular basis, and to read such an irresponsible article geared toward young people was appalling!

A physician suggested that drinking your way through college is no big deal because "All those brain cells you supposedly destroyed? `At that age, you probably had enough' to succeed without them," and, "The biggest problems with having smoked marijuana are the law-enforcement repercussions ..." and--and this one takes the cake--"If you snorted cocaine once or twice, it's no big deal."

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