ULTIMATE party animal? Probably.
Too wild for its own good? More than likely.
Few things are certain about Cocaine Bear, except that its legend has soared since February’s release of the film by the same name.
The hilariously horrific B-movie reveals what might have happened to the bear who ate a shedload of the Class A drug after 34 kilos of it was dropped from a doomed plane by half-wit smugglers over the Tennessee Mountains in 1985.
Elizabeth Bank’s well-received film is loosely inspired by real events. But there is no evidence that the 12st black bear, who was found dead three months after the coke was ditched surrounded by the ravaged 40 containers it was held in, killed anyone, unlike in the film.
As with most legendary tales of narcotic consumption, the exact details about ‘Pablo Eskobear’ as it’s been dubbed are rather sketchy.
Did Hunter S Thompson really start the day with cocaine for breakfast, and continue with it throughout, while dropping acid after lunch?
Did David Bowie spend 1976 living off coke, milk… and red peppers?
Sadly, we’ll never know.
And what about Cocaine Bear – how much coke did it actually take?
Well, thanks to medical science and the boys back at the lab, we can fill in at least a few crucial blanks.
According to Dr Kenneth Alonso, chief medic at the Georgia State Crime Lab, its stomach was “literally packed to the brim with cocaine” from the $20m (£44m in today’s money) stash.
Dr Alonso also estimated that 3 to 4 grams had been absorbed into its bloodstream, with the official cause of death a cocaine overdose.
And while there’s no doubt there are a few rock legends who would give it a run for its money, that is certainly not to be sniffed at.
