Researchers suggest they have proof Shakespeare smoked weed

Shakespeare smoked marijuana, according to a South African scientist

(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

published 10 August 2015

Just what was William Shakespeare smoking? According to South African researchers, marijuana, probably. Using a technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, Francis Thackeray at the University of Witwatersrand found traces of cannabis in four clay pipe fragments unearthed from Shakespeare's garden in Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as in four pipes found nearby.

Though the pipes, or the 24 fragments loaned from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, hadn't been smoked for 400 years, there were also clear traces of cocaine — probably brought back to Elizabethan England from Peru by Sir Francis Drake — in two samples (neither from Shakespeare's garden) and evidence of tobacco in just one sample. In his research letter, Thackeray also dabbled in literary criticism, trying to find evidence of Shakespeare's drugs of choice in Sonnet 76. If you have to get a little stoned to see his point, well, according to Thackeray, you're probably just indulging in the same "noted weed" Shakespeare used when writing it.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.