DR. WALLACE: I just read your advice to parents who have a trustworthy daughter who wants to attend a rave party.

Your advice was to not let her go to the party because "there are many other places she can go to express her independence and enjoy her teen years."

I can guarantee you that if she doesn't attend this rave, she'll wind up at some other social functions that will be serving alcohol or drugs.

I'm an adult. I had a great teen experience because my parents trusted me and let me do what my friends were doing as long as I was responsible. I attended many rave parties when I was younger, and I knew some people there were on drugs. I also knew that there were tons of kids not on drugs at those raves. If this particular girl is trustworthy and responsible, she will make the right decisions for herself.

Kids will experiment whether you like it or not. Restricting a teen's attendance at these common events will lead to distrust and maybe produce the opposite effects of the advice you provided. — Experienced Raver, San Francisco

EXPERIENCED RAVER: I appreciate your comments, but I still wouldn't encourage my daughter or son to attend a rave party. I'm not opposed to the all-night, heavy metal music blast or the excessive entrance fees. I object solely to the prevalence of drugs.

Since you have been to several rave parties, you are well aware that drugs compete with the loud music. I haven't been to a rave, but I've talked with plenty of teens who have, and what they say is always the same: The smell of marijuana permeates in the air and drug buying and selling is done in the open, without fear of reprisal. Those who pedal the drug ecstasy, for example, often use raves as their marketplace. Furthermore, a wide variety of today's drugs are even more dangerous and lethal than those that were circulated back in your day.

We must here discuss opioids and related synthetics — drugs designed to provide pain relief — which are extremely dangerous, especially for a person consuming such a substance without knowing the source it came from.

Synthetics were originally designed to mimic naturally occurring opioids such as codeine and morphine. Some are manufactured by reliable, regulated pharmaceutical corporations, but many other bootleg drugs, manufactured illegally in clandestine labs, flood into our country via illicit drug markets. They tend to be highly potent, which means only a small amount of the drug is required to produce a given effect. This high concentration also drives many overdoses and, sadly, deaths for those who consume them. Opioids include drugs like tramadol and fentanyl. Fentanyl is extremely dangerous. Here is a quick overview from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlining the dangers:

"Fentanyl is a synthetic (man-made) opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. There are two types of fentanyl:

— "Pharmaceutical fentanyl is primarily prescribed to manage severe pain, such as with cancer and end-of-life palliative care.

— "Non-pharmaceutical fentanyl is frequently referred to as illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF). IMF is often mixed with heroin and/or cocaine or pressed into counterfeit pills — with or without the user's knowledge."

Teens are often impulsive and impressionable. Some may take a drug on impulse when in an environment like a rave. And without a doubt, those consuming drugs, perhaps driven by peer pressure, almost never know the actual source of the drug or who brought it into the environment. My advice remains firm and unwavering: No teens should be attending raves. It's simply too dangerous of an environment for a young person to be in. There are many other events that are suitable and can allow for dancing, music and various types of fun in much safer environments.

Being a wise and fair parent is very difficult in this day and age. It's not easy to say no to a teen when the response is, "All my friends are doing it." But there are times when no is indeed the best answer. A request to attend a rave party deserves a firm and resolute no! This is more important now than at any previous time I can recall.

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.

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