Carter Caught Smoking Pot In Friends' Photos

Teenage pop idol AARON CARTER has been shamed in American tabloid NATIONAL ENQUIRER after editors ran photos of him smoking pot through a small bong.

One of the clean-cut singer's pals has come forward with the pictures that show a topless Carter puffing marijuana fumes into the air during a daytime house party in 2003.

He claims he's not trying to destroy the pop star's image but wants him to think carefully about his pot use before it gets out of hand.

Carter's mother JANE and sister LESLIE have both suggested the I WANT CANDY singer likes to get high, but the singer recently insisted "I don't do drugs" in a PEOPLE magazine article.

The anonymous pal with the pictures says, "I tried to talk to him back then (2003), but he told me, 'Oh, it's just recreational - I only do it once in a while.'"