Shortly after his adolescence, Leonard Lee Buschel claims that his life became an incessant search for love, sex, and dollars. He quickly achieved it in Hollywood as he became the most successful drug dealer in the industry. Successful, above all, because the police never caught him.
In High: From Cannabis to Clarity, his recently published biography, Leonard states that since he tried marijuana at around 15 years old, it became one of his best friends forever. Despite his parents wanting him to have a good education, he decided to drop out of college to smuggle Lebanese hashish from Israel, hiding it in his pants, and distributing it in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or Florida.
Settling in Hollywood, he delved into the darkest side of the film industry during the seventies and eighties when many established actors were addicted to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. With the quality of his hashish, Leonard had star clients such as John Belushi, comedian Richard Pryor, and actor Robert Downey Sr. "Suddenly, my life went from black and white to color," he states in his book.
With the latter, he maintained an eternal friendship until his death in 2021. He was the father of Robert Downey Jr, the highest-paid actor in history thanks to his role as Iron Man, which after appearing in nine Marvel Universe films has earned him between 386 and 421 million dollars. The superhero's addiction problems originated when his father started giving him joints at the age of 6.
John Belushi became famous thanks to the musical duo The Blues Brothers and his appearance on Saturday Night Live, a show that almost idolized him. But his life was cut short at the age of 32 when in February 1982 he died of a cocaine and heroin overdose at the Château Marmont hotel. While treating him, Leonard reiterates that he was a good man, with extraordinary talent, and an intimate friend of Robert De Niro and Dan Aykroyd. The comedian only used marijuana to try to calm his cravings to try everything.
The case of Richard Pryor, who died in 2005, is also quite harsh as he supposedly set himself on fire while consuming pure cocaine. By doing it this way, he experienced an intense but short-lived high. The actor had a deep devotion to Leonard, who provided him with huge amounts of weed every week.
Another method Leonard used to spread his merchandise was selling it to dealers who then sold it to iconic figures in the industry. Additionally, he also gave cannabis, which he did not sell, to other cultural legends like Clarence Clemons, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, or Hugh Masakela.
Since trying marijuana, Leonard knew that "he had found a friend for life, a tool for living, the key to the magical kingdom." He claims that he earned $100,000 annually, not aiming to get rich, but the essential thing for him was not to be located by the police. With that money, he has stated to the Daily Mail that you could have a little house and provide a decent education for a child.