DR. WALLACE: Our 20-year-old son has admitted using cocaine "occasionally." I'm not a dumb parent. I'm well aware of cocaine's addictive powers. Several years ago, you printed a letter from a young woman who was addicted to cocaine. She kicked the habit and told teens about the drug's power.

Will you please print this letter again? I want my son, and all teens, to read it. — Thank you, Mom, Naperville, Ill.

MOM: The letter was written to me over two years ago and nothing has changed. Cocaine is a powerful addictive drug and one should never get involved in its human destruction. Please read on:

DR. WALLACE: I'd like to address my letter to all the people who think that doing drugs is cool. I'm 20 and a former cocaine addict. With the help of my priest and the good Lord, I've been clean for the past three months, and with their help I will remain drug-free for the rest of my life.

Last month, I enrolled in a local community college and I'm doing quite well. I love my classes and I've made a lot of "straight" friends. Because of the positive and permanent change in my life, I feel I must tell my story to all your teen readers.

Several years ago, I was dating a guy who was addicted to cocaine. All of my friends and family encouraged me to dump the guy, but I wouldn't listen because we were in love and I thought my love would cause him to give up his habit. What a joke!

Instead, he persuaded me to give cocaine a try and if I didn't like it, I could stop using it. He convinced me that cocaine would provide me with the ultimate high, and if we both were high at the same time it would bring us together to feel the ultimate love experience. Sadly, I believed him. On my second use of cocaine, I was hooked.

Within two months I was stealing from my parents to support my cocaine habit. Soon after, I became an expert in shoplifting. Every evening I would hit the shopping malls, shoplifting things my boyfriend could sell for 20 cents on the dollar. When that didn't bring enough revenue to support our habits, we started burglarizing houses during the day. I would ring the doorbell and if someone answered the door, I'd ask to use the telephone because my car had broken down. If no one answered, my boyfriend would break in and take anything of value he could carry. After two months, we were busted. My boyfriend was sent to jail while I got probation, since it was my first offense.

While I was on cocaine, I was a skeleton. I should have weighed 125 pounds, but tipped the scale at a robust 90 pounds. I really looked like death warmed over! I turned to my priest and he was wonderful. I now have a will to live and to be productive.

Teens, I'm only 20, and sometimes I feel like I'm 40. I've already lived a full life of misery. Please take my advice and stay away from drugs! A life is too precious to waste. I know - I've been there. — Theresa, Ontario, Calif.

THERESA: No one knows it better than someone who has been there! Thanks for sharing part of your life to help our teen readers know the danger of cocaine.

Dr. Warren Wasiewski, a researcher at Milton Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania, warns that cocaine is so potent that just one hit taken by a pregnant female could cause the unborn baby to suffer a stroke, leading to birth defects and possible death. Coke babies weigh less than normal, have smaller heads, and sometimes suffer brain damage.

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@thegreatestgift.com. 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.