South African scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his famous works while high.
Of the 24 fragments of early 17th century clay pipes loaned from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to the Universityof the Witwatersrand, cannabis was found in eight samples, four of which came from Shakespeare's property, the Independent reports.
There was also evidence of cocaine in two pipes, but neither of them hailed from the playwright's garden.
Shakespeare's sonnets suggest he was familiar with the effects of both drugs.
In Sonnet 76, he writes about "invention in a noted weed", which could be interpreted to mean that Shakespeare was willing to use "weed" or cannabis.
