Was Bruce Lee a drug addict? Newly released letters reveal orders of cocaine

When it comes to Bruce Lee, his legacy is set in stone and undoubtedly he is one of the greatest martial artists ever. In short, without him – martial arts would look very different today and the landscape would not be the same. However, away from his public life, his personal life was often shrouded in mystery. For instance, the death of Bruce Lee is often debated, and whilst the official reason is based on a bad reaction to a painkiller, the internet is rife with differing opinions.

In short, this is just a glimpse of the mystery that follows Bruce Lee and these days the theories are just as big as the facts. Just recently for example, filmmaker Quintin Tarantino claimed that Bruce Lee was mean whilst filming and was not as nice as his persona showed. This is just one part of Lee’s personality that is debated…amongst a host of other ideas and viewpoints.

Anyway, this week there are now even more stories floating around about the life of Bruce Lee. This was the result of auctioned letters from his friend Robert Baker whose letters sent to Bruce Lee during the 1970s had some startling findings. As seen in this link, the Robert Baker letters are now available and hint at drug use by Bruce Lee during this period. These were provided on behalf of Heritage Auctions, the company responsible for auctioning the aforementioned letters.

Before continuing, it should be noted that by drugs, we don’t mean cannabis either. Whilst that has been speculated for some time, it looks like Bruce Lee was also interested in harder stuff. Author Matthew Polly of Bruce Lee: A Life has previously mentioned that Baker was rumored to supply Lee with cannabis. In this tweet, Polly claims that cannabis may actually have been the tip of the iceberg.

What drugs was Bruce Lee involved with?

So, what drugs did Bruce Lee get shipped over to Hong Kong by Robert Baker? In one letter, Bruce Lee responded to Baker and said “I told Linda to call you to forget about the ‘stuff’ because I really don’t need them in my training. I feel that I have ‘gained’ in trying them, but excessive indulgence of them just isn’t in my road in Jeet Kune Do.” Often, the pair would refer to narcotics as ‘holy stuff’ and even ‘Coca Cola’ and ‘C’ as these terms were used somewhat frequently.

Later, Lee suggested that Baker send drugs to his close friend Wu Ngan by hiding them in drugs and clothes to bypass the Hong Kong authorities. According to the auctioned letters, Lee also wrote to Baker requesting, “COKE in large amount, ACID in fair amount, and “HASH OR GRASS.” He also went on to ask about the chemicals used in magic mushrooms which are used to hallucinate.

As seen in the above letter, in a letter addressed to ‘Bob’, Bruce Lee asks to “Air mail me some Coca Cola.” This letter also features the Jeet Kune Do logo as a watermark at the top of the paper.

In other letters sent to Baker, Bruce Lee’s wife Linda was also involved, adding “Don’t worry about Bruce using the C. He is not going overboard.” a letter signed in 1973 read. Over the years, Linda would frequently write to Baker and sometimes would reference drug use involving cocaine.

Further, Lee also once wrote about needing coke to help him for an upcoming movie role, adding “Cooly” send some Coke. How’s everything? Stoned as hell, but am working on the upcoming character. Some coke would help in the formation.” Often, Lee would also discuss paying Baker sums of money in exchange for ‘C’.

Many of these letters were written in 1972 from Lee to Baker and so forth. Sadly, Bruce Lee died in 1973 after taking a painkiller after finding an edema on the brain. After knowledge of his edema – Lee was hospitalized and suffered headaches. According to some, this edema was the result of a blow to the head during a competition. After his passing, Bruce Lee’s status became even more legendary than whilst he was alive. His legacy was continued by his son Brandon, who also sadly passed at a similar age.

As for Baker, he died of a heart attack aged 52 in 1993. This episode sheds a different light on the life of Bruce Lee and shows that beyond the movie screen, he was also living a different life. Does this also tarnish the legend of Bruce Lee? For a man that accomplished so much in such as short space of time, the answer to that question is no. Sure, Bruce Lee was not a perfect human being…but in terms of martial arts and his impact on this world – he taught so many people so much…and for that, he will be valued forever.