QUESTION: I had enjoyed a close personal and sexual relationship with a girl to whom I was engaged. But then I began to vomit whenever I saw or thought of her. The frightening part of the story is that the same thing happened to me again during a casual sexual relationship with another girl.
Is it possible that the puritanical sexual attitudes of my mother have made such a deep impression on me that my attempts to liberate myself from the “old morality” are being foiled by a built-in preventive?
ANSWER: Allergic reactions to mates have been reported before, but your response is a bit unusual. More often the symptoms are those of hay fever or asthma. You should explore this problem with a therapist. Either that or keep a supply of Dramamine handy.
The Puritan heritage is the real reason for our marijuana laws, according to Dr. Philip Handler, chairman of the National Science Board. Dr. Handler, also chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at Duke University, recently testified before a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee.
“It is our Puritan ethics which say we shouldn’t do this rather than science, which says we should not, at the moment.”
Handler said There is no scientific evidence that using marijuana will lead to the use of other drugs, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs has written a bill making possession of marijuana a crime under the interstate commerce provisions of the Constitution (the tax requirement shuck was thrown out by the U. S. Supreme Court in the landmark Tim Leary case). A lessening of penalties for possession of marijuana will be proposed. Let’s see now…15 years instead of 30? Or 5 years? Or 30 days? Perhaps “Justice” lawyers should read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
QUESTION: William Baird, birth control expert, is quoted in the May, 1969 Ramparts as saying, “You’d be surprised how naive about sex some of those bright college kids are. Some of them believe they can prevent pregnancy by withdrawal.”
Now, just what is wrong with “pulling out” as a means of contraception?
ANSWER: Coitus interruptus is a risky means of contraception—and a drag as well.
Small amounts of semen may be deposited in the vagina before the sensation of ejaculation occurs. Studies have shown this fluid contains thousands of spermatozoa.
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
Girl One writes your column for help with pain during- intercourse. Girl Two writes a 5 point plan to eliminate the pain which is a beautiful example of machine mentality. She advises among other-things to lubricate well, relax-relax-relax (if necessary by thinking about something besides sex) and don’t let yourself be pushed.
I (Girl Three) ask both of them—who are you doing this for anyway? If you’re in danger of being pushed faster than you want to go, something is wrong with the whole scene.
“Sex is good” was liberating as a truth. As a moral imperative it is as repressive as any other.
ANSWER: Authorities in Vancouver, B.C. also objected to Girl Two’s 5 point plan. Two thousand copies of Vancouver’s Georgia Straight were seized because of an alleged obscenity in her letter.
DEAR DR, HIP POCRATES is a collection of letters and answers published by Grove Press. $5 at your favorite bookstore.
Dr. Schoenfeld welcomes your letters. Write to him at P.O. Box 9002, Berkeley, California 94709.