Drugs in creative culture

We have recently finished studying some of Edgar Allen Poe’s work and I enjoyed it far more than I had expected.   Sure, I knew it would be darker and more mysterious than the other authors but something about his name just screams boring high school English topic.   I felt pretty naïve after reading the first of his stories because I almost immediately got right into it and began reading more for pleasure than work.   Something about the words he chooses and his sentence structure is just different from the other writers.   His writing made me feel what I believed his characters felt, and I understood why we were studying him in the first place.
Midway through our study I learned something about him, which I probably should have known—he had quite the fascination (or obsession) with opium.   He wrote about it in his stories, used the drug in his own life, and most certainly drew inspiration for his stories from the effects of the drug on his mind.   Upon learning this tidbit my first response was nothing close to shock, in fact I wasn’t surprised in the least. “Why was this?” I thought to myself. While there are probably many reasons, I have recently been focusing on the idea that in the “artist’s world” drugs and other mind altering activities seem to be far less taboo then in everyday society.   In a way, artists of all kinds throughout history have been pardoned from guilt from their frowned upon activities.   I feel this is because sometimes drugs allow the artists to become free and create truly amazing and timeless works of art—whether it be a book, a song, or a painting.   The beauty of these pieces is so great that society couldn’t possibly punish those who were responsible for creating them.   A question arises: with all of their talent, why can’t the artist create a brilliant piece without using his or her drug of choice?
In no way, shape, or form am I condoning the use of drugs, especially the intense kinds of drugs coveted by the worlds greatest artists....