Writers and Drugs

# Summary Throughout history, numerous writers and artists have used various substances—from alcohol and opium to cocaine and coffee—seeking to enhance creativity and access altered states of consciousness. While some celebrated these drugs' effects on their work, the article emphasizes that such dependencies ultimately destroyed both the art and the artists themselves. The piece also explores lesser-known connections between psychoactive substances and artistic or historical phenomena, including the possible influence of ergot fungus on religious visions and major historical events.