] Several 17th-century clay pipes found at the site of
] William Shakespeare's home were used to smoke marijuana,
] a South African anthropologist says. Although he has no
] proof that the Bard was the guy who smoked the pipes, he
] surmises that some of Shakespeare's sonnets and plays
] also lend credence to the possibility that the writer
] smoked marijuana for inspiration.

] Thackeray said his "hobby" developed after he played
] the part of the ghost in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in
] 1998. That renewed his interest in Shakespeare's work.
] He noticed a reference in Sonnet No. 76 to "invention
] in a noted weed." "Weed" is a slang term for marijuana,
] and "invention" can refer to writing. The same sonnet
] refers to "compounds strange," a known reference to
] drugs. In Sonnet 27, Shakespeare wrote about "a journey
] in my head." Sonnet No. 118 speaks of "to make our
] appetite more keen, with eager compounds we our palate
] urge." Perhaps a reference to marijuana as an appetite
] stimulant, Thackeray wonders.

] Intrigued, Thackeray asked the Shakespeare Birthplace
] Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon to allow South African
] researchers with state-of-the-art equipment to analyze
] 24 pipe fragments. Marijuana degrades over time, but
] eight of the fragments showed signs suggestive of
] marijuana, he said. Two also showed evidence of cocaine.

The pot head thing wouldn't shock me in the least.. However, freebasing cocaine dosen't fit my image of Shakespeare.