Famous Historical Stoners

 

Sometimes we consider cannabis use as a relatively modern thing, or at least the way we view it has been altered by modern society. Obviously, cannabis has been around and has been used for hundreds and hundreds of years. It grows wild in several parts of the world and was often used in tribal rituals and for medicinal purposes long before modern medicine. The era that we may not think about as much is relatively modern history, the last 100 years or so. At least, we may not think much about the type of people who used cannabis, and how many of them are famous historical figures we’ve learned about since primary school. I have also thrown in one or two figures from what we may consider ancient history, just for good measure.

 

Queen Victoria 

 

This is one that a few of you may have known and was the reason I learned about the effectiveness of cannabis use for period pain. Queen Victoria was often dealing with pregnancy/labour discomfort as well as period pains and found cannabis to be an excellent painkiller. Her use of cannabis was documented by her private physician Sir J. Russel Reynolds in an 1890 issue of The Lancet. This was one of the oldest recorded medical journals in which her physician wrote at length about the importance of medicinal weed. Of course, Queen Vic wasn’t just smoking blunts on the throne, but would instead use tinctures and concentrates to reduce pain and inflammation.

 

Louisa May Alcott 

 

The author of Little Women was thought to be a big fan of cannabis. Alcott was ahead of her time in a number of ways, especially with her views on women’s suffrage and feminism in general. Little Women was famously based on her upbringing and gives a fascinating look into the lives of young women during a difficult period in history for women. However, the idea of her being a weed smoker comes from a short story entitled “Perilous Play”. In this story, she writes about two lovers smoking hash together and the story even ends with the words “Heaven bless Hashish”. This is the primary reason that she is believed to have used hash herself, along with her generally radical personality.

 

William Shakespeare 

 

We are always finding out new things about the great playwright. Along with possible plagiarism, lost plays and his heavily debated sexuality it is also likely that William had a little inspirational help, other than Christopher Marlowe. In Shakespeare’s garden, historians discovered several clay pipes that contained traces of cannabis. He did also leave some hints and traces in his work including mention of a “noted weed” in one of his sonnets. Of course, like a lot of the evidence found concerning his life, the results were not conclusive and we cannot say with certainty that Will was a cannabis smoker. Just like we can’t say for a fact that many of his sonnets being written for young men meant that he wasn’t classically straight.

 

Joan of Arc 

 

Again this is purely speculation on the part of historians, but Joan was accused of using “witch herbs” that allowed her to see visions and hear voices. The herbs that she was accused of using turned out later to be cannabis, but there is no complete proof that she actually smoked them. She also was convinced that God spoke to her and told her to kick the English out of France so it’s entirely possible that she was at least a bit high.

 

Maya Angelou 

 

The beloved poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is maybe less surprising considering her overall outlook on life. This is one historical figure that we know for a fact was into a bit of smoke. Maya was also a memoirist and wrote in her book “Gather Together In May Name” about getting stoned at a dinner party. This story is all about her first time smoking and details how it improved every aspect of the meal. That the food was incredible and how she was lost in such a haze of bliss she danced for the hostess. She writes many other times about the joys of cannabis and how it can enrich life. She wrote that “Smoking grass eased the strain for me. People called it Mary Jane, hash, grass, gauge, weed, pot, and I had absolutely no fear of using it.”

 

Carl Sagan 

 

The astronomer and author was very open about his cannabis use. He admitted on a number of occasions that he used marijuana for inspiration in his work surrounding the makeup of the universe. He claimed that it helped him open up spiritually to really understand the philosophical aspects of the human experience. He believed that cannabis inspired him and improved the creative parts of his work. He was also an avid supporter of legalising cannabis and was quoted as saying “The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”

 

Henry Ford

 

Car manufacturer Henry Ford was a fan of cannabis in all its forms, especially hemp. He was a fan of recreational cannabis but also was famous for his plans to make a hemp car. He was actually successful in this endeavour and made hemp-based plastic, hemp fuel and hemp fibre. His car was predominantly made of and ran on hemp. He was a supporter of using hemp products rather than using other less planet-friendly options using oil and forests of trees.

 

Pharaoh Ramses II

 

Cannabis was used a good deal in ancient Egypt, largely for medicinal purposes. The Egyptians used cannabis for a wide variety of purposes and it was found in the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses II. This shows that it was considered important enough to be buried with the body of a Pharaoh. It would have been extremely common for leaders of this stature to use cannabis medicinally at this point in history, especially when it was growing in the wild near by.

 

Remember: It is illegal to germinate cannabis seeds in many countries including the UK.  It is our duty to inform you of this fact and to urge you to obey all of your local laws to the letter.  The Vault only ever sells or sends out seeds for souvenir, collection or novelty purposes.

 

Make sure you never miss another Vault promo and sign up for our newsletter at http://goo.gl/Bt2Ba2

 

Image via Unsplash