--- description: Some centuries-old pipes unearthed on Shakespeare's property contain traces of cannabis, according to South African scientists title: Did Shakespeare Smoke Weed? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea669114ba9d8eb1/6987edb835ba6f04f1c0b26b/463975465.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scientists Detect Traces of Cannabis on Pipes Found in William Shakespeare's Garden by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 10, 2015 9:21 AM CUT  19th century portrait of William Shakespeare, English playwright. 19th century portrait of William Shakespeare, English playwright.The Print Collector—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 10, 2015 9:21 AM CUT Some centuries-old pipes found in the garden of William Shakespeare still contain traces of cannabis, according to South African scientists who examined the relics with forensic technology. [The study](http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/SAJS%20111%5F7-8%5FThackeray%5FSci%20Corr.pdf "undefined"), published in the _South African Journal of Science_, examined 24 pipe fragments from the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, where Shakespeare lived. Some had been excavated from Shakespeare’s garden. Using advanced gas chromatography methods, researchers detected cannabis on eight fragments — four of which were confirmed as from the Bard’s garden, the _Telegraph_ [reports](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/11792533/Cannabis-discovered-in-tobacco-pipes-found-in-William-Shakespeares-garden.html "undefined"). Evidence of Peruvian cocaine was found on two others, though they were not from the same property. Though some of his readers have long combed his work for what [they see](http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/notedweed.html "undefined") as coy references to drug use, there is no proof that Shakespeare himself used drugs and earlier studies by the same South African research team, led by anthropologist Francis Thackeray at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, have attracted the derision of many Shakespeare scholars. The new study encourages them to reconsider the evidence. “Literary analyses and chemical science can be mutually beneficial, bringing the arts and the sciences together in an effort to better understand Shakespeare and his contemporaries,” it reads. ### Go Inside the Harvest of Colorado's Most Controversial Marijuana Strain  Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014\. The Stanley Brothers have developed a popular strain of cannabis that has been found to be helpful in reducing seizures in some children. Charlotte's Web is high in a compound called cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the compound that causes a high. Matt Nager for TIME  Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  From left: Zachary Sobol, Michael Atchley, and Jared Stanley walk to the farm to prepare for harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Rows of Charlotte's Web await harvest at the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Jared Stanley helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Colin Sparks searches for seeds during the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's Charlotte's Web farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Discarded leaves of Charlotte's Web at a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Tim Knight helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested on a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Zachary Sobol catches a ride on a trailer to the Stanley brother's farm during harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  One of the Stanley brother's greenhouses growing cannabis near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Zachary Sobol hangs rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after harvest in Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Penn Mattison, left, and Zachary Sobol, right, hang rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  The Stanley brothers' new company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  A petri dish full of cannabis explants await transfer and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' lab in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel awaits the cooling of agar to help induce rooting of transplanted cannabis plants at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  The lab notebook of molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  A flask of agar cools before explants of hemp are transplanted to help induce rooting and new growth at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME  Tissue cutter technician Meg Regan holds a vial of explants before sanitizing and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. 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