South African scientist, Francis Thackeray, has suggested that William Shakespeare used cannabis as a "stimulant which had mind-stimulating properties." A study of plant residues found in twenty-four 17th-century tobacco pipes used in the Stratford-upon-Avon garden of Shakespeare, revealed traces of cannabis in eight of the samples – four of which came from Shakespeare's property. Francis, therefore, is convinced that Shakespeare sought inspiration by smoking weed in the sort of pipe commonly referred to as a "bong".
Francis started the pipe study in 2000, after coming across a reference to the "noted weed" in Sonnet 76 of Shakespeare's poems. He thought Shakespeare might be alluding to his use of marijuana. To test his theory, he sought the help of Professor Nikolaas van der Merwe of Harvard University, and through the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was able to obtain pipe fragments. Francis later handed the pipes to the South African Police narcotics laboratory for analysis. Scientists used a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry and found that out of 24 pipes, 8 tested positive for cannabis.
"We can't prove that Shakespeare smoked these pipes, but we do now at least know what his contemporaries were smoking (cocaine and hallucinogenic drugs)," Francis had said then.
In his latest paper, the scientist issued "an appeal to the Shakespearean community to give attention" to his work, and presented a series of arguments to back up his claims.
“In Sonnet 76 Shakespeare writes about ‘invention in a noted weed’. This can be interpreted to mean that Shakespeare was willing to use ‘weed’ (cannabis as a kind of tobacco) for creative writing (‘invention’). Shakespeare may have been aware of the deleterious effects of cocaine as a strange compound. 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).
“Sonnet 76 may relate to complex wordplay relating in part to drugs (compounds and “weed”), and in part to a style of writing, associated with clothing ("weeds") and literary compounds (words combined to form one, as in the case of the word “Philsides” from Philip Sidney),” he explained.
Do you think William Shakespeare relied on more than his genius to write his plays and sonnets?
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