Bruce Berquam collects shotglasses

" you wrote "And if you think alcohol is a "gateway drug," then you are dissing tens of millions of other Americans who responsibly drink legal alcohol but do not partake of illegal drugs."

That is where you are wrong my comment-pages companion. The whole misleading concept of the "gateway drug" stems from the National Survey on Drug use and Health in which questions were asked of people concerning their use of drugs. From those surveys, interested parties found the following chronological patterns concerning drug use. People who reported using "hard" drugs (cocaine and heroin) within the last year started out in their teens using "soft" drugs (marijuana). This led them to postualte that somehow (a big somehow) the soft drugs led to the use of the hard drugs...thus they named marijuana a "gateway" drug...in that it led marijuana users to seek harder drugs later in life.

What is not often mentioned, and this is where your comment comes in, is that for the SAME people in the survey...alcohol use typically preceded the use of marijauna! So using the same data, one could say that alcohol use led to marijuana use thus alcohol is the "true" gateway drug. Even more revealing is that for the same people in the survey, tobacco use preceded alcohol use which preceded marijuana use which preceded hard drug use. So alcohol (or tobacco) is the true"gateway" drug if you look at it using the SAME logic applied to marijuana. Its just not reported as such because the government has a century-long vendetta against marijuana use while it has reached some sort of an accord with alcohol use. The Office of National Drug Control Policy "spun" the story to complement their efforts in maintaining the fruitless and expensive war on drugs.

So alcohol is a gateway drug, and if you mis-read the survey data, it will sometimes lead to the use of other drugs. Of course we all know that most alcohol users don't go on to use other drugs. Of course we all know that most marijuana users don't go on to use heroin or cocaine. Of course we all know that some heroin and cocaine users never used either marijuana or alcohol before hitting the hard drugs. The whole concept of a "gateway drug" is a reasonable-sounding fiction that has garnered alot of attention and research dollars because the current government policy towards "zero tolerance" is interested in keeping marijuana illegal. AND it is brought up from time to time in these very pages!

And that is an example of the point I was making in my earlier posts. The news always carries the official party line about SOME drugs while ignoring valid, accurate information from reputable scientific sources which contradict that official party line. Why do newspapers do this?

One, "drugs" sell papers. Who doesn't read about so-and-so getting arrested for possession or selling illegal drugs?

Two, reporters are lazy. It takes WORK to find the easily obtainable alternative sources of information....although I found them quite easily over the internet. And we're talking very reputable sources... such as the SAME people (university of michigan) who conducted the SAME survey data analysis used to concoct the so-called "gateway drug" concept. Only part of their conclusions made the news because of poor journalism and less-than-honest press releases from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Third, and more insidiously in a democracy, the federal government has a lot at stake in keeping some drugs illegal. So they have an enormous public relations budget and staff whose sole purpose is to do just that. In my recent studies, I was amazed to learn that the various government agencies actually spend lots of money to teach police officials and other parties how to talk about drugs to the public and the media. The Office of National Drug Control Policy holds regular press conferences in which the spokesperson "spins" the official story concerning drug use in the USA. Some of those statements, which then become "fact" due to lazy journalism, are untrue and based on dishonest presentations of data....like the WMD in Iraq scenario.

So please Daily gate City, do us all a favor and dig a bit deeper into the stories about ALL drugs (illegal or not). Or counter each negative story with a postive one or vica versa. Present multiple sides of each story so we have more than the official version which has been demonstrated to be less-than-truth on numerous occasions.

Bruce=good
Slanted press coverage=bad "

" Do you really think the Daily Gate City is selling papers based on promoting shotglasses? Geez.

And if you think alcohol is a "gateway drug," then you are dissing tens of millions of other Americans who responsibly drink legal alcohol but do not partake of illegal drugs.

This story is NOT about marijuana or illegal drugs. Frankly, it wasn't even about shotglasses. It was a simple little Q&A, but some folks want to make it much more. "

" no one is picking on Bruce. I wrote "Bruce IS a nice guy and I don't intend to attack him personally" and I wrote "I'm not "dissing" Bruce Berquam, he's probably a real nice guy and a responsible person." How is that picking on Bruce???

I am pointing out the fact that this newspaper is more than happy to cover stories containing positive drug references (because alcohol is a drug, and alcohol-serving devices are deemed newsworthy). Where's the statement about alcohol being a gateway drug? Where's the mention that using a shotglass as it was intended can lead to physical and psychological addiction. Where's the police official to tell us about the "horror" stories he's seen in relation to alcohol-abuse. Its poor reporting and its reflects hypocritical social policy. Come on Daily Gate, either commit yourself to reporting ALL the facts about drugs or don't cover them.

I would think that parents would be livid! Here, for all children to see, is a story of a man who collects drug paraphenalia (alcohol is a drug). There's no mention of possible adverse outcomes or the horrible damage drunks inflict upon our society each and every day. I could argue that the Daily Gate is more interested in selling papers than in the safety of our children...THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

Now you can be sure of one thing folks. If this was the story of Roger Houston (marijuana grower) or just some poor slob who got "popped" (thanks Dobson) for SIMPLE possession of marijuana, we'd be hearing all about the dangers of marijuana (real or imagined) and there'd be a blurb from some police official quoting the party line about the dangers of cannabis. There might even be a quote from that lady who works with addicts who gets quoted when they story deals with illegal drugs(not necessarily the most harmful drugs). That's a double standard in reporting, that's poor journalism, and it does a disservice to this community.

Hey, if Bruce has a shotglass collection I think that's great! He's a real nice guy and an asset to the community. I do take offense when newspapers print only one side of the news whether its shotglasses or marijuana pipes. Usually this happens because lazy reporters fail to do their leg work and print only the official slant of drugs and drug use because its the easiest to obtain. Hey daily gate, try peddling your shotglass story to M.A.D.D.! I'll bet they have something to say about it, where's their quote? "

" I have collected shot glasses since I was 12 years old. My parents seen nothing wrong with this as we spent two weeks a year in a camper and this was something that I could look back at and see where I have been. I am now 28 and still do not use my collection, I buy plastic ones!!!! You people need to get a life. Keokuk is full of stupid idiotic people that have nothing better to do than nitpic. Why don't you help clean up the riverfront!!!! "

" My 86 year old mother-in-law collected shot glasses. It's a harmless hobby that serves as a reminder of places you have visited.
The loonies that have tried to connect this with smoking or drug paraphernalia are the ones making the mistake.
It goes to show that the most innocent thing can be twisted around. "

" The big mistake here was putting that he collects shot glasses in the headline. If they'd put "Berquam has met Clinton twice" or "Berquam enjoys raquetball" no one would be picking on this poor man. Chicken enchiladas sound good... "

" I am nearly 83 and personally, for a conversatio piece, I would like to have a chinese hooka ( or whaterver it is called) to hang on my wall. I live in a s senior housiing complex and I am sure it would arouse some interest. I can assure you that I have never used any drugs that have not been approved or ordered by my doctor. At the present time I am taking quite a few.Some have side effects, so I have enough highs and lows to not want more.
Just calm down. I also have a son in law (army) and has a very intersting collection of such souvenier glasses that are momentos of most of the places,Overseas and this country that he has served in) . They are small and much less bulky than bringing home antiqu furnitue.. "

" What's funny is no one would have commented on this article if it read "Bruce Berquam famous for chicken enchilada's." Glad you don't collect pipes Bruce, could you imagine the responses then? I sincerely hope you have enjoyed a shot out of each and everyone of those glasses! "

" I can not believe no one has tried Bruce's Chicken Enchilada recipe! Awesome! I guess (being a fellow DJ with Prime Cuts for 15 years with ya) has shown me that you are the better cook! "

" I think its funny that you all come to the defense of the glorification of alcohol.

Bruce IS a nice guy and I don't intend to attack him personally.

What I am pointing out is that it seems morally inconsistent to glorify one drug and villianize the other. So what's wrong with a little moral inconsistency? Nothing at all if it remains at the level of shotglass collections or fattening hamburgers. There's nothing as enjoyable as a "dirty" little vice. I'm all for it, it makes us human instead of conformoids.

What I object to is that we have a distortion of reality at work and no one seems to notice it. For example, this newspaper is apparently VERY willing to print up the arrests, convictions, and sentences of "drug" offenders. The Daily Gate not only prints the raw facts but also likes to "spice things up" with the political and social commentary offered to them by VERY biased folks like the KPD or the Sheriff's office. How many times have we heard about the addictive power of meth or the "gateway effect" of marijuana in these pages as a by-line to the arrest? Usually this is pronounced by a law enforcement person as if Christ himself revealed it to him.

Where are the similar proclaimations about the dangers of alcohol abuse which should accompany the shotglass collection story? How about a re-cap of someone using a shotglass (as it was intended to be used) to excess and killing another person in an auto accident? Why is one lethal drug villianized and the other praised in a public interest story which really isn't even news? How about a little consistency there, Daily Gate?

OR how about this? Maybe the paper could run a story about the arrest of Roger Houston (marijuana grower) followed examples of marijuana beiing used postively for clothing,food, and medicine? That too would be an even-handed approach to covering drug use.

So anyway,enjoy your vices. We all have them. Gotta go. "

" I used to collect Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures. And since our culture celebrates the unspeakables that are mutations, ninjas, and turtles I must, naturally, condemn Bruce's horrible and intolerable ability to have a completely harmless hobby. "

" I also collect shot glasses and have a collection of about 250. In regard to the alcohol use, I always make sure
that I have a good shot before placing the glass in my collection. Everyone should get a life and lighten up
people. "

" I thought it was a nice story on Mr. Berquam. The story was about much more than shot glasses. It's a hobby. We should all find a hobby to keep us happy. "

" ROCK ON Bruce.... "

" Who cares? Leave this guy and what he likes to collect alone! Here's an idea....GET A LIFE! "

" Interesting.....

Alcohol is not of the devil like some people think!! I bet you enjoy a cheeseburger or two, or maybe even some french fries, but I don't hear you crying about the how unhealthy those are! (Wow! I'm full, but I'd better finish this double double cheeseburger because it might go to waste...) And believe me, we ALL know what happens when you eat too much! (Using your analogy about alcohol.)

Most people are responsible drinkers, but I sure do see a lot of fat people out there! Where is the responsible eating?!? By the way, I choose not to drink, so I'm not trying to justify a "wrong" behavior, I just see the dangers of a restricted society. Remember HItler??

And puh-leeze, we're talking about a collection of items here...... Give me a break!! "

" "great comments Randy, sounds like "interesting" could use a belt or two and lighten up!!" "

" Oh my, come on now, equating a hobby/collection with meth or dope! I find this readers comments completely out of line.
If Bruce collected hats would the reader comment about baldness or long hair, and that hats are just a sample of America's use to cover up the problem. I know many many people who collect beer cans.....and most of them to preserve the quality of the collection remove the beer by way of opening up the bottom of the can as not to spoil the top opening of the can. Does this lead to meth addiction. Or worse yet...sneaking alcohol...into the home. My brother-in-law collects beer cans and he's the Cheif of Police for a town in south west Minnesota. This person is way off the wall. I've known Bruce for many years.............he doesn't try the shot glasses out FIRST. Geeeez. "

" with all respect to Mr. Berquam, I wonder what would the readership think if he collected pipes for smoking meth or marijauna? What is it about our culture that celebrates the use of alcohol while condemning many others?

We do celebrate the use of alcohol....shotglass collections, beer bottle collections, toasts, movie images for example. Why? We all know by now that alcohol is BAD for you...even a little bit. Sure there may be some small heart-related benefits to a glass of red wine but those have to balanced against the other organ damaging potential in that same glass of vino. And who drinks just one glass of wine?... the open bottle cries for the drinker to have more before it goes sour. Yes,no doubt about it, we Americans like our booze. We went to war for it...if you call the malestrom of violence surrounding Prohibition a "war".... which is exactly what we called similar violence when referring to the struggles of various gangs to control the cocaine markets in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Of course we all know what happens when you drink too much and/or too often. Bloated livers, brain damage, various stomach problems, kidney problems, blood pressure ailments to name a few. Then tack on the alcohol-induced social problems such a DUI, traffic crashes, spousal abuse, violence, missed work. Alcohol costs out society billions of dollars and cuts short the lives of tens of thousands each year. Who hear remembers Johnny Meister's auto crash in which his young victim lost her life? Who didn't see that coming?

I'm not "dissing" Bruce Berquam, he's probably a real nice guy and a responsible person. I am "talking smack" about the moral inconsistency in our attitudes concerning the use of intoxicating substances. I'll bet if someone in the area collected marijuana smoking devices, the only write-up in the paper would be the record of his/her arrest. Seems a wee bit inconsistent to me given that alcohol causes as much or more social damage as the two aforementioned illegal drugs. And that's what the endless, expensive and ill-advised War on Drugs.is all about isn't it? Protecting us from the harm of drugs? Or is it? "