RESEARCHERS DIG UP NARCOTICS DIRT ON BARD

'Noted Weed': Traces Of Cocaine, Hallucinogenics And Cannabis Found Near
Shakespeare's Home

LONDON - Shakespeare may have been one of the first harried authors to seek
inspiration from drugs, a study suggests.

A chemical analysis of clay pipes from the 17th century, including some
found near the Bard's home in Stratford-upon-Avon, in the English Midlands,
have shown traces of cocaine, hallucinogenics and compounds created by
burning cannabis.

Although there is no evidence any of the pipes belonged to Shakespeare, the
findings suggest narcotics were accessible to the playwright and his
contemporaries at a time when smoking was a relative novelty.

The study, carried out by South African researchers, was partly inspired by
a rereading of some sonnets in the search for drug references. Sonnet 76,
for instance, refers to a "noted weed" and "compounds strange," while in
Sonnet 27, Shakespeare talks of "a journey in his head."

Literary critics have interpreted "noted weed" as meaning a well-known
garment or style of dress, and "compounds strange" to mean an unusual word
construction.

But according to Dr. Francis Thackeray of the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria,
who carried out the study, "weed" could be a reference to cannabis and
"compounds" could refer to drugs.

Dr. Thackeray analyzed 24 fragments of pipe owned by the Shakespeare
Birthplace Trust. The tests showed traces of tobacco, camphor and myristic
acid -- a chemical found in plants such as nutmeg, which has hallucinogenic
properties.

Two pipes showed evidence of cocaine and there was evidence suggestive of
cannabis, Dr. Thackeray reports in the South African Journal of Science.

"We do not claim that any of the pipes belonged to Shakespeare himself,"
said Dr. Thackeray. "However, we do know that some of the pipes come from
the area in which he lived and they date to the 17th century."

Professor Stanley Wells of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust called the
research's conclusions "regrettable."

"I think it's trying to suggest that Shakespeare was not a great genius,
but somebody who produced his writings under an artificial influence," he said.

"There are about eight million cannabis takers in this country at the
present time. Are they producing anything comparable to Shakespeare's
sonnets, I ask myself? I doubt it."