] 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.

Anthropologist says Shakespeare might have smoked marijuana