01-05-2007, 11:17 AM
I'm not DM, but thought I would weigh in, because I was there when it happened.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't.
But I did read an article in Playboy 15-20 years ago that covered much of this territory. Weight loss, removal of sweat glands, hashish... It was written by a doctor who treated movie stars. I don't recall whether he treated Bruce directly or knew some of those who did. The article was well-written and seemed legit, and it was accompanied by some very graphic photos.
Actually, no photos for this article. But I do recall photos in the mag.
The bottom line was that Bruce Lee was getting Nepalese hashish, which was extremely dirty at that time. In other words, pesticides were heavily used, and the harvesting and manufacture process made no attempt to remove it. There was evidence that other people at that time suffered edema of the brain due to bad hashish.
After his first very close call, Bruce decided to steer clear of hashish altogether. Unfortunately, when he mentioned this to his good friend Steve McQueen, Steve laughed and told him hashish was perfectly safe.
Steve McQueen killed Bruce Lee.
If I recall correctly, the Playboy article cited several reasons for covering up his cause of death. One not mentioned in this article was that Enter the Dragon was soon to be released. Linking Bruce Lee with drug use could have destroyed the box office.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't.
But I did read an article in Playboy 15-20 years ago that covered much of this territory. Weight loss, removal of sweat glands, hashish... It was written by a doctor who treated movie stars. I don't recall whether he treated Bruce directly or knew some of those who did. The article was well-written and seemed legit, and it was accompanied by some very graphic photos.
Actually, no photos for this article. But I do recall photos in the mag.
The bottom line was that Bruce Lee was getting Nepalese hashish, which was extremely dirty at that time. In other words, pesticides were heavily used, and the harvesting and manufacture process made no attempt to remove it. There was evidence that other people at that time suffered edema of the brain due to bad hashish.
After his first very close call, Bruce decided to steer clear of hashish altogether. Unfortunately, when he mentioned this to his good friend Steve McQueen, Steve laughed and told him hashish was perfectly safe.
Steve McQueen killed Bruce Lee.
If I recall correctly, the Playboy article cited several reasons for covering up his cause of death. One not mentioned in this article was that Enter the Dragon was soon to be released. Linking Bruce Lee with drug use could have destroyed the box office.