Does The Possibility That Shakespeare May Have Dabbled In Mind Altering Drugs Surprise Anyone?

Jezebel- 400-year-old clay tobacco pipes that were discovered in William Shakespeare’s garden were found to have contained evidence of weed. Scientists in Pretoria, South Africa, analyzed residue from the pipes using an advanced forensic technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The technology is sensitive enough to pick up preserved substances even from that long ago.

24 pipe fragments showed cannabis in eight of the samples, with four of them coming from the playwright’s property. There was also nicotine in at least one sample and two that showed traces of Peruvian cocaine. The Independent points out examples in Shakespeare’s works that suggest he was aware of the effects of the drugs:

In Sonnet 76, he writes about “invention in a noted weed”, which could be interpreted to mean that Shakespeare was willing to use “weed”, or cannabis, while he was writing.

In the same sonnet it appears that he would prefer not to be associated with “compounds strange”, which can be interpreted, at least potentially, to mean “strange drugs” (possibly cocaine).



Do you mean to tell me that the guy that basically created his own language may have ignored the teachings of the D.A.R.E. program? Upset city baby. Never saw that coming. There is a very thin line between genius and insanity. Apparently that line is made up of finely cut Peruvian cocaine. This really makes perfect sense. You don't just think that far outside of the box without a little mental stimulus. Shakespeare just took advantage of being very opinionated and outspoken during a time in history where people were very vulnerable. You convince enough people that you are actually a genius and the vast majority has no choice but to continue to agree with them. Do you know if Willy Shakespeare is actually as smart as history has made him out to be? I can barely read a page or two of his work. At this point I am just going by what everybody else says. Just every generation telling the next generation that some babbling lunatic that couldn't even use the English language right was superior to all of us intellectually, when in actuality he may have just been some stoned motherfucker talking (or writing) directly out of his ass. Every time I rattle on and on incoherently you probably think I am mentally handicapped, but you also probably started to read with that assumption in mind. If you start to read Shakespeare you think it's brilliant because you went into it with the assumption that it was. It's the old self fulfilling prophecy. If there is a person that is harder to understand than someone far smarter than you, it's a person that is way less sober than you. Who's to say which of those people William Shakespeare was? It's his language, how can we retroactively judge him on how he used it? Let's be real, if "to be or not to be?" is the question, we are probably all going to need a bong rip to properly answer it.