Drugs in the Lives of Great People (Part 1)
Throughout history, many famous individuals have made significant contributions to science and the arts. Some of them used, or were even heavily dependent on, psychoactive substances. However, this did not prevent them from achieving greatness. In this article, we’ll look at several outstanding people who are especially well-known for their relationships with psychoactive substances.
1. Mikhail Bulgakov (May 15, 1891 – March 10, 1949)
Russian writer, playwright, theater director, and actor. Author of novellas, short stories, numerous satirical pieces, plays, adaptations, screenplays, and the world-famous novel The Master and Margarita, which has been adapted for film multiple times in Russia and abroad.
Bulgakov is known to have used morphine in his youth while working as a doctor in a remote hospital (as described in his stories A Young Doctor’s Notebook). After giving himself a diphtheria vaccine, he suffered from severe swelling and pain, which he tried to relieve with a morphine injection. He enjoyed the feeling so much that he soon became addicted. He described this state in his story Morphine, one of the greatest works of 20th-century Russian literature. The story’s protagonist ultimately commits suicide, but Bulgakov himself, in a miraculous way, managed to quit without any treatment (which, at the time, didn’t exist anyway).
Bulgakov also used morphine while working on The Master and Margarita. Scientists have studied the manuscript of the novel, specifically ten pages of the final draft, which Bulgakov worked on until the last weeks of his life. They found traces of morphine—2 to 10 nanograms per square centimeter—on every page, as well as proteins indicating that Bulgakov suffered from hypertensive nephrosclerosis. The morphine could have been transferred via microscopic drops of sweat or saliva (possibly from licking his fingers to turn the pages).
2. Alexander Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014)
American chemist, pharmacologist, writer, and developer of many psychoactive substances. Known as the “Godfather of Ecstasy,” Shulgin is considered a true pioneer in psychopharmacology, both in practical and ethical terms. In today’s legal climate, especially in Russia, it’s difficult—and even dangerous—to fully appreciate his contributions. Nevertheless, many believe that in the future, Shulgin’s discoveries will be properly recognized, and his name will stand alongside other great scientists.
Shulgin tested not new serums, but compounds he synthesized himself—psychoactive substances whose legal and social status remains problematic. Defying the “new inquisition” that restricted humanity’s right to self-exploration, Dr. Shulgin continued his research for forty years, achieving scientific feats that may only be fully appreciated by future generations.
His book PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, co-written with his wife Ann, explores psychedelic phenethylamines. The book is divided into two parts: the first (Love Story) is a biography and account of Alexander and Ann’s relationship (under the pseudonyms “Shura” and “Alice”), and the second (Chemical Story) contains scientific descriptions of the synthesis of over 200 psychedelic phenethylamines (most synthesized by Shulgin himself), their dosages, effects, and other commentary.
In 2003, the first part of PIHKAL was published in Russian as Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved. Shortly after, the book disappeared from store shelves due to a ban by the Russian Federal Drug Control Service, which saw it as drug propaganda.
3. Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939)
The famous Austrian psychiatrist, neurologist, and founder of psychoanalysis. Freud’s initial interest in cocaine was medical. He first tried cocaine in 1884 and was amazed by its effects: it cured his depression and boosted his self-confidence.
That same year, Freud wrote the article “On Coca,” strongly recommending cocaine as a local anesthetic and as a treatment for asthma, digestive disorders, depression, and neuroses. He published several articles on cocaine’s properties, describing its effects in detail. However, in his later works, he was less enthusiastic, especially after his close friend Ernst von Fleischl died from cocaine abuse.
Believing that cocaine could cure morphine addiction, Freud tried to treat his friend’s dependency, but the result was tragic: the morphine addiction was replaced by cocaine addiction, leading to an overdose and death.
Freud himself became addicted to cocaine, sincerely believing in its “healing” properties. He eventually overcame his addiction, but it took significant effort and time. The historian Howard Markel, in his book An Anatomy of Addiction, argues that Freud’s passion for cocaine may have contributed to the birth of psychoanalysis. Freud himself wrote about his habit in the essay “On Coca”: “I need a bag of cocaine. The torments I’ve endured are often beyond human strength,” he wrote in 1895, a year before he quit the drug. Markel acknowledges that Freud stopped abusing cocaine in 1896, but believes cocaine played a more significant role in the development of psychoanalysis than previously thought.
4. Humphry Davy (December 17, 1778 – May 29, 1829)
English chemist, physicist, and geologist, one of the founders of electrochemistry. Davy is known for discovering many chemical elements. As a young man, he set out to prove that nitrous oxide (laughing gas) was not a dangerous poison, as American doctors of the time believed. He bravely tested the gas on himself, experiencing extremely pleasant sensations and a cheerful mood, which led him to repeat the experiments almost daily. He became convinced not only of the absence of toxic effects but also of the gas’s consistent intoxicating and euphoric effects, including vivid hallucinations. Inspired by the effects of “laughing gas,” Davy even wrote poetry about his experiences.
On one occasion, after inhaling five large doses, he lost consciousness for about three hours. Nevertheless, he continued his self-experiments, which ultimately contributed to his serious illness and death at age fifty. Davy claimed he was motivated solely by scientific interest, but his obsession with the gas suggests otherwise, given the intense euphoria it produced. Today, nitrous oxide is classified as a dissociative drug.
5. Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)
American entrepreneur who revolutionized technology. Widely recognized as a pioneer of the IT industry, Jobs was a co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.
It’s no secret that Steve Jobs experimented with soft drugs, but only recently, after the Pentagon released his file, did it become clear how significant a role they played in his life. For example, Jobs believed that LSD changed his life for the better. According to released documents, Jobs took LSD 15 times between 1972 and 1974. He was never able to fully describe the feelings he experienced, but he was glad he tried it and believed it had a major impact on his life and work.
Jobs was required to disclose his drug use because he needed security clearance from the Department of Defense for access to classified information about reconnaissance flights and satellites while working at Pixar. The documents also reveal that between 1973 and 1977, he smoked marijuana or ate marijuana brownies once a week. Drugs helped him be creative and develop new ideas. Jobs did not use any other drugs, and according to him, the last time he used was in 1977.
6. Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana.
Cobain became a victim of psychiatric “help” as damaging as the problems psychiatry often fails to solve. Even before school, “experts” diagnosed him with “hyperactivity” and put him on a chemical leash. An energetic, talented, creative child who loved singing Beatles songs, Cobain was among the children in the 1960s and 70s who, under the guise of “help with learning,” were given psychotropic drugs that caused dependency. Cobain became a “Ritalin kid.”
What does this mean? What is hyperactivity? And what is Ritalin? Leading pediatric neurologist Dr. Fred Bowman Jr. explains that hyperactivity is “a fraud, a fiction, and a scam.” Psychiatrists, lacking scientific evidence, claim that symptoms include fidgeting, restlessness, frequent standing up in class, inability to play or relax quietly, constantly seeking activities, and excessive talking.
Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a psychostimulant similar to amphetamines, which psychiatrists at the time believed acted as a tranquilizer for children. In reality, its stimulant properties helped hyperactive and distracted children focus, but its addictive potential was underestimated. Ritalin is listed in Schedule II of the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, alongside opium, cocaine, and morphine. It quickly causes dependency, and withdrawal can lead to depression and even suicide (as with amphetamine or cocaine addiction). Side effects include loss of appetite and weight, sleep disorders, rapid heartbeat, lethargy, joint pain, nausea, chest pain, hallucinations, and unusual behavior. Its effects are stronger than cocaine, and medical research shows that Ritalin, as a stimulant, may predispose children to cocaine use in adulthood.
For Cobain, Ritalin caused insomnia, so he was prescribed sedatives to counteract it. Despite claims that stimulants help children learn, Cobain did poorly in school and eventually dropped out. Years of prescribed, dependency-forming drugs made it easy for him to transition to street drugs. Cobain’s long struggle with heroin addiction became widely known, as he constantly tried to quit but couldn’t.
His situation was worsened by chronic health problems: the weight of his electric guitar aggravated his spinal curvature, and “stomach burning and nausea” often drove him to thoughts of suicide. Stomach pain is a side effect of Ritalin. Cobain used heroin to “put out the fire in his stomach.”
Cobain’s drug problems became critical. In desperation, his wife Courtney Love and several friends sent him to a psychiatric rehab center. Thirty-six hours after admission, Cobain escaped and, in a small room above a garage in a quiet Seattle suburb, ended his life with a shotgun. Heroin and the addictive tranquilizer Valium were found in his blood.
In his suicide note, he mentioned two things that drove his decision: years of stomach pain and the torment of musical creativity, which he described as, “My passion is gone.” Chemistry dissolved the artist, the music stopped, and Kurt Cobain lost his sense of purpose.
Conclusion
Perhaps drugs played a role in these people’s achievements and helped them make unique contributions to various fields—and, by extension, to our own lives. But if these individuals had not been truly talented and driven, psychoactive substances alone would not have enabled them to achieve such results.
Drugs can’t make you better, but sometimes they can show you what you’re capable of!