Re: Such stuff as dreams are made of...
I don't see why this should be such a shocker, Cocaine had probably been brought back to Europe from the Americas in Shakespeare's time by the Spaniards, and the Romans smoked weed from India. In fact, reefer wasn't even illegal in the USA until 1937.
Europeans were expanding their minds with tobacco, chocolate, tea, probably opium from Turkey, and by this time I believe the Scots were distilling spirits.
"Remember, what the dormouse said
feed your head, feed your head."
--Grace Slick