Absolutely not! Think of all the writers who were destroyed by drugs and alcohol. Think of that famous remark about Shakespeare: One of the things that made him different, and greater, than other Elizabethan writers, was that he didn't drink.

Also people who drink or drug are not in touch with their feelings, so how can they express them? So many writers have drawn from their own pain (and recovery) and then went on to write important works. Alcoholics are too busy repressing their pain to grow from it.

Randy

How do you know Shakespeare didn't drink? People aren't even certain who he was, so how can they know his personal habits?

I don't use drugs (other than alcohol) and certainly don't advocate their use, but alcohol is a different matter. I find that it releases my inhibitions that block writing. At least up to a point, after that point, it is a detriment.

James Vaught wrote: I don't use drugs (other than alcohol) and certainly don't advocate their use, but alcohol is a different matter.

Why do people think alcohol is more acceptable (for a lack of a better word) than pot? Because it's legal?

Think of all the great musicians, painters, sculptors, poets, and novelists who were under the influence when creating their masterpieces. Of course drugs and alcohol are destructive if you use them excessively. But a little bit of weed or liquor here and there to enhance creativity? No big deal.

I don't know many people that don't drink alcohol regularly and smoke pot at least occasionally. And they're all leading productive lives.

there is a lot of elements to this question. First most creative people also tend to be bi-polar, and bi-polar people tend to have different affects under the influence of drugs. Not simply social or addictive, some even feel it helps medicate them. From my own personal use I never got much out of writing when I was drunk. When I'm drunk I wanna be social, however stoned is different. Stoned helps with the first draft and coming up with ideas. And when I used acid back in high school i came up with at least one idea every time I tripped. The genesis of my novel bloodlines came when i was tripping out and watching Bram Stoker's Dracula in college. However, when it gets time to edit, proofread I recommend a sober mind. Then you have to look at it through the eyes of a reader and have a clear head. You also get a lot more done.

http://www.amazon.com/Bloodlines-ebook/ ... 271&sr=1-1

When I started smoking pot again I stopped smoking as much, I lost 100 pounds and quit drinking. I have an occasional whiskey, at the most, two

I also wrote and published three books. I'm working on a fourth.

I vote yea

viva la freedom

It is true that many great writers have been alcoholics. The list includes Hunter S.Thompson, Tennessee Williams, Dorothy Parker, Charles Bukowski, Jack London and Truman Capote among many others.

Jack Kerouac, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dylan Thomas died from poor health related to the complications of alcoholism. Ernest Hemingway committed suicide after alcoholism, depression and mental illness. They have all truly suffered for their art.

First of all I'll start with my own story. I am actually from the east and have stayed in the west for a long time. Frankly the 4-6 years I have spent in the west have been some of the best in my life. I found many friends and had lots of parties. However it was there that I was introduced to Maurijauna.

I didn't do it very often but my personal experience is when I was involved in the party life and with the drug snorting, weed smoking lot I could only concentrate on the women, cigarettes and (sometimes) drugs. There was almost nothing else. Trying to write under maurijauna was actually a dream because I would be too busy being a total idiot who did things he can't even remember. My friends were the same. Losers from all walks of life.... some had been kicked out of home and vented their frustration at the bottom of the bottle, others were maurijauna junkies who you couldn't expect to be sober even at their mothers deathbed, some were even needle junkies. Obviously they were no where near successful both academically and in personal life (Changing girls every now and then, failing to pay their rent etc)

However if the drugs did not work for me it does not mean they cannot work. I personally knew a genius lawyer once in Canada who subsisted only on coke, maurijauna and alcohol. Yet he was an ace at what he did. His quitting our organization in Canada severely limited our ability to defend ourselves against litigation or any form of abuse. He was so good at what he did that he was considered one of the top 500 lawyers in Canada.

Different things work for different people. There are authors, songwriters, inventors and thinkers who have been highly successful. Any book writers... hello? Stephen King anyone? That guy has demanded maurijauna to be made legal. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a junkie too.

Here's a list of the addicts that made it!

Sorry webbie (Chris) I just visited your site from behind a proxy.
The link I used was actually blocked in the country I am in currently so it was hindering my ability to prove my point.

Btw I actually find myself agreeing with Stephen King. Banning things only makes you crave them more but thats a different topic.

I have read the initial post here, and scanned some of the responses. My answer is - in a word - NO! The writer may think he is brilliant while he is stoned, but only to himself. A friend of mine once said "The most brilliant conversationalist in the world is a drunk; as long as he is talking to another drunk."

I know, lots of writers and musicians have been alcoholics and drug addicts. The question is not did drugs and booze make them better writers, but how much better would they have been without those 'crutches'?

BTW, I am not a teetotaler; I like a beer, andlor a glass of wine with dinner; but I don't get drunk, and the only drugs I take are those prescribed by my doctor (I am an insulin-dependent diabetic).