Dear Preaching,

Dear Mama,

So which is she, "bright and capable," or unable to figure out how to use a condom without your help? You sound confused. If what you want to be is a friend, then be that. If need be, buy her a vibrator and a box of French ticklers for her birthday; it'll be funny, practical, and healthy, all in one. If she really has a drug problem, harping at her is not going to help. Go together to get AIDS tests. It won't hurt you to have one, too, and you can provide moral support for each other. Of course, you could always throw her a Safer-Sex Beltane Party to prove that "safe" doesn't have to mean "dull." Go all out with alcohol (plus crash space so nobody has to drive), intimate spaces (stocked with condoms, rubber gloves, dental dams, and anything else that might be needed), and lots of ways to get "high" (drumming, jumping the Beltane fire, chanting etc.) without having to become intimate with your local law enforcement officers. Just a thought!.