Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 15:40:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Christopher B Reeve <[cr 39] at [andrew.cmu.edu]>
Subject: Re: Hashish in the old days?

> Part of the reason it was so much stronger, I believe, is that it was 
> taken by really good writers and artists. So they wrote about it 
> in vivid terms.  And when they introduced their friends to it, they 
> really psyched 'em up first. (Read about Baudelaire's Haschisch Club 
> for an extreme example.)

Perhaps, but Baudelaire is not a really good source to go to.  There is
much speculation that what he wrote about was in fact either opium or a
mixture of hashish and opium, or a mixture of hashish, opium, and/or any
of the other drugs he was addicted to or used frequently:

"Baudelaire makes a curious statement in the 1851 article: 'Haschisch is
made from a decoction of Indian Hemp, butter, and a small amount of
opium.'  Either this mixture is the drug which Baudelaire did take and
referred to as hashish, in which case we can never be certain whether he
is writing about the effects of hashish or some mixture containing opium
also; or else he was, in 1851, largely ignorant concerning hashish."
(Lester Grinspoon, _Marihuana Reconsidered_, 80)

Also:
"It is questionable whether he ever gave himself a real chance to have a
pure hashish experience, or, if he did, whether it could have provided
him with enough material to write the work he did." (Lester Grinspoon,
_Marihuana Reconsidered_, 82 - 83)

And all of this goes on for pages and pages w/ pieces of evidence here
and there.