DR. WALLACE: I've been known to play my favorite sport, baseball, with a "chaw" in my cheek. The specifics of my chaw involve smokeless tobacco wrapped in a huge wad of bubblegum.

I intentionally put the chaw in the middle with the bubblegum on the outside so that the smokeless tobacco doesn't directly contact my cheek. I feel this way I greatly reduce any negative risks of using smokeless tobacco. But my girlfriend disagrees and thinks it's extremely dangerous.

Do you agree more with my take or her take? — My Chaw Is Insulated, via email

MY CHAW IS INSULATED: I agree completely with your girlfriend here. The whole reason you have a chaw in the first place is to absorb the tobacco and fuel your addiction to it.

It's admirable that you are so creative in trying to protect yourself with a layer of bubblegum, but I'd prefer you to use your creativity to come up with a way to stop using smokeless tobacco entirely.

I recall reading a study from a famous university in California surveying many professional baseball players. The research team concluded that the chances of developing precancerous lesions in the mouth is 225 times greater for users of chewing tobacco than for non-users. This particular study involved interviews of the players who also agreed to dental exams during their yearly physicals. Forty-six percent of the players who were users had oral lesions!

Do yourself a favor and find a way, perhaps with your girlfriend's assistance, to break this nasty habit as soon as possible.

MY FATHER IS GREAT EXCEPT FOR CRITICIZING MY MOM

DR. WALLACE: My parents separated over a year ago, and I live with my mother, but I do visit my dad two weekends a month. For a long time, they never really said much to me about each other.

But in the last few months, my mother has met a new boyfriend. I was quite apprehensive at first, but the more I'm around this guy, the more I actually like him. He's friendly, sincere, responsible and easygoing. From what I can see, he's very respectful to my mom, and he's very respectful to me and my sister.

The problem I'm running into is that my father alternates between pestering me about details regarding this new guy and talking the guy down. I understand that my father is frustrated, but I really don't want to get involved in any discussions of this sort. Do I have any obligation to inform or update my father about my mother's social life? — It's Beyond Uncomfortable, via email

IT'S BEYOND UNCOMFORTABLE: Your instincts are right on the mark here. The very best thing you can do is to stay out of discussions regarding the adults that relate to their relationships. Your father is on the line here, but you are indeed in a delicate situation.

Perhaps you can let your father know that you love and respect him in the same way you love and respect your mother, and you feel uncomfortable talking directly about anyone's personal life at this point. Get this point across, then break out a big smile and immediately change the subject to something you and your father both enjoy. Do your best to hold the conversation on that new topic for some time.

I trust your father will get the message and will also know that the two of you can discuss your common interests at any time comfortably.

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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