Bruce Lee: How Green Was the Green Hornet?

Many, like Very Important Pothead Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, have been paying tribute to Bruce Lee on the 50th anniversary of his death. The Chinese-American martial artist and movie star smashed as many racial barriers and stereotypes as he did opponents, and another myth he smashed was that of the weak, do-nothing cannabis consumer. 

According to the biography Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, it was Steve McQueen who turned Lee onto marijuana. "It quickly became his drug of choice – Puff the Magic Dragon," Polly writes. "After a training session with one of his celebrity clients, Bruce would light a blunt and talk philosophy," listen to music and "have a ball," James Coburn recalled. "Blowing Gold was one of his favorite things." 

"It was different and scary," Bruce said of his first experience getting stoned. "I was feeling pretty high when Steve gave me a cup of hot tea. As I placed the cup to my lips, it felt like a river gushing into my mouth. It was weird. Everything was so exaggerated. Even the damn noise from my slurping was so loud it sounded like splashing waves. When I got into my car and started to go, the street seemed like it was moving real fast toward me. The white centerline just flew at me and so did the telephone poles. You just noticed everything more sharply. You become aware of everything. To me it was artificial 'awareness.' But, you know, this is what we are trying to reach in martial arts, the 'awareness,' but in a more natural way."

Polly theorizes that "beyond its consciousness-raising appeal, Bruce's fondness for cannabis—at first he used marijuana and then later switched to hash—may have involved an element of self-medication. 'Never Sits Still' was a nickname and he had been hyperactive and impulsive since his childhood. Marijuana and hash seem to have served as a kind of chill pill." 

DEATH AND LEGACY

After a near fatal cerebral edema caused him to collapse on a Hong Kong movie set on May 10, 1973, Lee was examined by neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Wu. During the examination, Lee admitted that he had eaten hash immediately before the episode, and Wu advised him not to take it again. "It's harmless," Bruce scoffed. "Steve McQueen introduced me to it. Steve McQueen would not take it if there was anything dangerous about it." He refused diagnostic tests, saying he would get treated in the US. 

"In 1973, Hong Kong had very little experience with marijuana," writes Polly. "It was conceived of as an evil Western hippie drug. Research since then has proven that cannabis does not cause cerebral edema or lead to death." He quotes Dr. Daniel Friedman, a neurologist at NYU Langone Medical Center. "There are no receptors for THC in the brainstem, the part of the brain that maintains breathing and heart rate," said Dr. Friedman, "which is why it is very near impossible to die directly from a THC overdose unlike heroin or barbiturates."

DEA "Celebrates" 50 Years, Pushes Social Media Addiction

Having been established by Richard Nixon on July 1, 1973, the U.S, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is celebrating its dubious 50-year legacy pushing the racist, ineffectual and expensive War on Drugs. Nixon called for Congress to consolidate anti-drug efforts into the uber agency, which was given intelligence powers like wiretapping and body-worn recorders. 

One of the DEA's high-profile busts was the arrest of Dr. Timothy Leary, the Harvard psychiatrist who became an evangelist for LSD. Leary's legal challenge to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act after being caught with pot at the Mexican border dismantled that law, but ushered in the much-worse 1971 Controlled Substances Act, which gave DEA the authority to schedule drugs based on their perceived danger, leaving cannabis in the most dangerous Schedule I category to this day. 

DEA TRIES TO BE HIP IN TEEN CAMPAIGN

As reported by Marijuana Moment, the DEA is now promoting tips on how to get a “natural high” as an alternative to drugs, sharing what it says are “7 Better Highs” such as becoming famous on Instagram, playing video games and going to a pet store to look at animals. 

"Don’t let boredom be one of the reasons you try drugs. Try these fun activities and get a natural high!" the agency's taxpayer-funded campaign enjoins, suggesting hiking, renting jet skis, or going to amusement parks for relaxation and excitement in lieu of doing drugs. 

“It’s fun to post pics on Instagram and also see what your friends are doing on the app. But if you took it a little bit more seriously, you could take over the world and become a young trendsetter,” the post continues.

But social media could be more harmful than marijuana is to young people, especially girls. A 2021 report reviewed by the Wall Street Journal found that about 22 million teens log onto Instagram in the U.S. each day, and that adolescents were starting to report anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts regarding their experience on the social app. Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. Data suggest that the more hours a child devotes to social media, the higher their risk for mental health problems.

“Do you want to take a little escape from reality altogether?” the DEA site asks. “Playing video games is an awesome way to do so.” This from the government that continues to recruit teens excelling at online war games into the military, as 77% of young people don't meet the military's requirements due to obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, and medical/physical health issues.

  

Study: Warning Signs About Cannabis and Pregnancy May Have "Unintended Adverse Consequences"

Five states where recreational cannabis is legal (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington) require businesses to post point-of-sale signs with warnings about harms of using cannabis during pregnancy. But these warnings may have an opposite effect from their intent. 

A recent study published in JAMA Network Open surveyed 2063 pregnant or recently pregnant people living in US states with legalized recreational cannabis, 585 of whom reported using cannabis during their pregnancy (CUDP). Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco supported by a grant from the California Department of Cannabis Control reported that among those who used cannabis during their pregnancy, living in a state with warning signs about the use of cannabis during pregnancy was associated with beliefs that cannabis use during pregnancy was safe, and that those who used cannabis during pregnancy should not be punished. Among people who did not use cannabis before or during pregnancy, living in a warning-signs state was associated with beliefs that use was not safe, and with greater support for punishment regarding pregnant people’s cannabis use.

"Considerable questions remain as to why warning signs for substance use during pregnancy may have unintended adverse consequences," the study's authors write. "One possibility is that warning signs increase fears of punishment and thus influence pregnant people to avoid prenatal care. Another is that warning signs may lead people to believe their substance use has already irreversibly harmed their baby and thus it is too late to stop use. From the larger health communications literature, people who use cannabis could experience message fatigue and tune out or distrust information in messages."

Tokin' Women and Others We Lost in June 2023

 

Alan Arkin (6/29)

In his brilliant eight-decade career, Arkin was memorably comedic (The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming), sarcastic (Catch-22), and quietly tragic (in the 1968 adaptation of Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, where he plays a deaf man). Arkin starred opposite Rita Moreno in Popi (1969) and menaced Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark. He capped his career with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as the unapologetically heroin-using grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine (pictured), and two consecutive Emmy nominations for the Netflix series The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas.

Christine King Farris (6/29)

The eldest and last surviving sibling of Martin Luther King, Farris endured both her brother's 1968 assassination and that of their mother six years later. Like her mother and grandmother before her, she attended Spelman College in Atlanta, where she earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1948. After earning two master's degrees in education, she taught at a public school before returning to Spelman as director of the Freshman Reading Program in 1958. Farris held a tenured professorship in education and was director of the Learning Resources Center for 48 years. Farris was, for many years, vice chair and treasurer of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and was active for several years in the International Reading Association, and various church and civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She published a children's book, My Brother Martin, as well as the autobiography, Through It All: Reflections on My Life, My Family, and My Faith. 

Citing Alice Johnson, Baier Trips Up Trump on Death Penalty for Drug Dealers

It's rare to find a hero on Fox News, but Bret Baier did a surprisingly great job tripping up Donald Trump on his repeated call for the death penalty for drug dealers. In an interview with Baier this week, Trump first confirmed his position, citing China and Singapore who (he says) have "zero drug problems" because of their death penalty policies.

Trump claimed that China lost territory to other countries in the past because they were "all drugged out" (due to the Opium Wars, presumably) and said that drug dealers—adding there are "plenty of female drug dealers too"—kill an average of 500 people in their lifetime (as usual without any factual basis for his "truth").

Baier then brought up Trump's support of the First Step Act, which released (mostly) nonviolent offenders including Alice Johnson, a black grandmother who had served almost 22 years for a first-time, nonviolent drug crime until she was advocated for by Kim Kardashian. (On her reality show, Kim is shown meeting about Johnson with Trump, who only wanted to talk about her suck-up husband Kanye West.)

Trump made a public spectacle of granting clemency to Johnson at the 2019 State of the Union speech, and she appeared a SuperBowl ad to tout Trump's criminal justice record.

During the interview with Baier, Trump brought up Johnson, who Trump said “got treated terribly” and “unfairly,” equating her treatment to his own. He said that Johnson’s trafficking activity was “mostly marijuana”—though her convictions largely concerned alleged cocaine sales, reports Marijuana Moment. 

“But she’d be killed under your plan,” Baier pointed out. 

 “Huh?” Trump replied. 

 “As a drug dealer,” Baier said. 

Willie's Weed-Filled 90th Birthday Concert on Film

Margo Price performs with Bob Weir at the concert. 

UPDATE 12/23: The concert (or parts of it) is now viewable on CBS. 

The concert at the Hollywood Bowl celebrating Willie Nelson's 90th birthday is the subject of a film now in limited release across the country. It's the next best thing to having been there, with crowd shots and a good theatre's sound system recreating that concert vibe, although lacking the doobies that were smoked at the event, both by the crowd and the performers (offstage). Not all of the performances from the two-day concert are included, but there's plenty to enjoy for pot lovers, music lovers, and the many who appreciate Willie Nelson. 

Billy Strings started it off by getting the crowd rocking and demonstrating his amazing virtuosity on the guitar, which he also displayed and backing up Bob Weir on “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.” Strings joined Nelson toward the end to perform his song "California Sober," which he recorded with Willie earlier this year. 

Marijuana is first mentioned by Willie's son Micah, who sang his song inspired by a statement his Dad made: "If I Die When I'm High I'm Halfway to Heaven." Jack Johnson, wearing a "Have a Willie Nice Day" T-shirt, sang his song "Willie Got Me High and Took All My Money" about a poker game gone wrong. 

Intros for the acts were provided by Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Garner, and Owen Wilson. Wilson, a Texas native, spoke about how popular Nelson was in Austin, bringing together hippies and rednecks alike, and thanked Willie for "always inspiring us to take the HIGH road." A seriously stoned, grinning Woody Harrelson got to effusively introduce Nelson, acknowledging his inspiring humanitarian work for farmers and "our blessed Saint Mary Jane." 

Nelson started his set with Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" before dueting with Sheryl Crow, who noted that Willie was the only person to ever offer her dad a joint, and recently said from the stage that vinyl and weed would save music.

Margo Price was a High-light, rocking out wearing white go-go boots and a green jacket adorned with silver pot leaves. Price introduced a marijuana line with Nelson's Willie's Reserve in 2019, and recently launched a CBG line in conjunction with Mom Grass. On Day 2 of the concert, she dueted with Nathaniel Rateliff on "I Can Get Off on You." 

Of Cicely and Sinéad, and Marijuana

Browsing in the biography section of my local library, I came upon two somewhat bald-faced books published in 2021 by shaved-headed women: Cicely Tyson and Sinéad O'Connor. Both books address marijuana. 

Tyson, who rose from youthful poverty to a brilliant career as a model and actress, chose an arresting portrait with a shaved head taken by photographer Lord Snowdon in the early 1970’s for the cover of her memoir, Just As I Am. Raised with a strong influence by her church, Tyson married Miles Davis, whose drug use was beyond her reckoning. 

"Whatever he smoked or shot up, he usually reeked of it. I knew the scent of marijuana, but other than that, I couldn't tell the difference between coke or heroin or any other drug," she wrote. "He tried to cover it with cologne (he loved his collection), but I could still smell it. And when I did, I stayed as far away from him as I could, because I knew I wouldn't be having talking to Miles anymore. I'd be having a conversation with the person he became when a substance had taken him over. The drugs. The wandering eye. The outbursts. I dealt with it then by not engaging it. I suppose it was my way of reconciling the Miles I knew, the poor soul bearing a hurt-filled past, with the Miles he became in quelling his pain."

Later Tyson helped him clean up from drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes, but Davis, who she describes as being consistently furious over racism, ultimately succumbed to them. According to Tyson, he altered his autobiography to be critical of her after she refused to reunite with him. She published her book two days before her death at age 96. 

O'Connor, who suffered physical and sexual abuse growing up in Ireland, chose a shaved-head hairstyle partly as protection against predation. Growing up in a different time than Tyson, she used marijuana and tried other drugs, which she now denounces. 

In the forward to her book Rememberings she claims she can't necessarily remember all the details of her life because she wasn't "present" for them; she blames this in part on weed, writing, "I was actually present before my first album came out. And then I went somewhere else inside myself. And I began to smoke weed. I never finally stopped until mid-2020. So, yeah, I ain't been quite here." 

However, the book is quite detailed, so somehow she remembered much of her life. She adds, "Making music is hard to write about. I was present then. In the place deep inside myself that only I know." And she writes about how much of her music was made while she was on weed.