Opium has left its mark on humanity for millennia, captivating people with its potent and habit‑forming qualities. Throughout history, even the most celebrated individuals have found themselves drawn to the drug, whether for pain, sleeplessness, or sheer habit. Below we unveil ten influential personalities who, despite their greatness, were dependent on opium.
10 Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr stands out as one of America’s most notorious figures. A political heavyweight for much of his career, his trajectory shifted dramatically after a duel that sealed Alexander Hamilton’s fate. Though the legal charges faded, Burr remained a marked man in the United States.
In 1808, he abandoned his New York residence and crossed the Atlantic to Britain, where he felt more accepted. Over four years abroad, Burr kept a candid diary chronicling his liaisons, ailments, and the remedies he employed. While visiting relatives in Britain, his opium consumption grew, a fitting coincidence given the Scottish aristocracy’s deep involvement in the opium trade.
The diary offers a stark window into his reliance. One entry details a toothache, noting, “I thought of my old remedy, camphor and opium.” Another recounts a sleepless night: “Have had a most uncomfortable night. Swallowed of the opium enough to sicken and stupify me.” Subsequent notes reference opium for headaches, nausea, and further toothache relief.
9 Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius, the stoic Roman emperor, is best remembered for his seminal work Meditations, a guide still revered by modern leaders. While his philosophy champions emotional restraint, he apparently turned to opium—an exotic luxury of the elite—to manage his frailty.
Physically delicate, Aurelius faced frequent sickness, especially from cold. He reportedly ate little during daylight, preferring minimal nocturnal meals. To counter his ailments, his physician Galen prescribed a concoction called theriac, which, in practice, was opium‑laden. This remedy enabled him to endure the rigors of command.
Historical records indicate he avoided daytime dosing because it caused drowsiness, reserving the drug for night‑time use to secure sleep. Though dependent, his opium intake appears to have functioned more as a painkiller and sedative than a full‑blown addiction, allowing him to compose his philosophical texts.
8 Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, a founding father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and third U.S. president, also harbored a penchant for laudanum—a tincture of opium. His eccentricity extended to self‑medication, especially after a bout of chronic diarrhea prompted a friend to recommend the drug in 1803.
While the exact moment he first embraced opium remains unclear, evidence shows he used it enthusiastically thereafter, relying on it until his death in 1826. On his deathbed, Jefferson famously declined further opium, telling his physician, “No doctor, nothing more,” and passed peacefully.
Jefferson even documented a homemade laudanum recipe in his medicinal journal, ensuring a steady supply. He cultivated white poppy at Monticello, a practice that persisted on the estate until 1992, when concerns over legality prompted its cessation.
7 Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis, famed explorer of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also grappled with opium. Following Jefferson’s commission to chart the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, Lewis set out with a substantial cache of the newly isolated pharmaceutical.
His own estimates suggest he consumed roughly a gram of opium daily—an alarming dose, especially when paired with his known alcoholism. He reportedly took three pills at night to induce sleep and two in the morning to maintain functionality.
Lewis suffered from depression, and the combination of alcohol and opium likely intensified his anguish. Some scholars speculate that his substance use contributed to his mysterious death in 1809, which remains debated between suicide and murder.
6 Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson, the towering English lexicographer behind A Dictionary of the English Language, also turned to opium in large quantities after 1765, when he was in his mid‑fifties.
A self‑styled medical enthusiast, Johnson formed friendships with physicians and often acted as his own patient. He suffered various physical ailments and tics, leading him to consume opium for what he termed “relaxation of the breast.” His preferred preparation mixed marshmallow with poppy, allowing him to ingest up to three grains (approximately 200 mg) at a time.
Despite acknowledging the drug’s addictive nature—frequently expressing fear of “the horrors of opiates”—Johnson persisted for nearly three decades until his death in 1784.
5 Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, a polymath founding father, faced severe health challenges in his later years, including gout and kidney stones. To alleviate his pain, his physicians prescribed laudanum in 1782, which initially helped him stay socially active and continue his work.
However, the drug’s long‑term effects proved detrimental. In a 1790 letter, Franklin lamented, “Little remains of me but a skeleton covered in a skin,” attributing his loss of appetite and dwindling focus to laudanum. He feared the medication would prevent him from completing his memoirs, and he died later that year without ever discontinuing the opiate.
4 William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist who helped end the slave trade, endured chronic stomach ailments throughout his life. To keep his parliamentary duties uninterrupted, he turned to opium, a drug widely recognized for its addictive potential even in his era.
His friend, the scientist Isaac Milner, reassured him, noting that the “habit of growling guts is infinitely worse.” Wilberforce reportedly used opium for 45 years, claiming its mental impact was milder than wine. He even recommended it to acquaintances, despite knowing its dangers.
3 Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, endured intense pressure as First Lady during the Civil War, compounded by personal battles with depression and anxiety. She relied heavily on opium‑based remedies, especially paregoric, to manage debilitating migraines.
Her maid, Mariah Vance, observed that Mary’s overuse of paregoric made her volatile. When urged to stop, Mary retorted, “If paregoric were poison, the Todd family would be dead years ago. Some never born. We were raised on it.” She also turned to laudanum for headaches and childbirth pains.
After Lincoln’s assassination, Mary’s opium consumption escalated dramatically. She oscillated between moments of lucidity and mania, mixing various opiate products. Even a family‑initiated commitment attempt failed to curb her habit; she was known to finish an entire bottle of laudanum on the street before seeking another.
2 Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin, the celebrated Polish composer, endured a lifetime of physical and mental distress, ranging from severe coughs to hallucinations. Doctors prescribed opium drops sweetened with sugar to soothe his persistent coughing.
Scholars still debate his exact illness, with theories suggesting temporal‑lobe epilepsy. The combination of epilepsy and opium likely intensified his depressive episodes and vivid hallucinations, which, in turn, influenced his hauntingly beautiful compositions. His lover, George Sands (the pen name of Armantine Dupin), recounted a terrifying vision where “phantoms called him, embraced him… and he pushed away their skeletal faces.”
The precise frequency of Chopin’s opium use remains unknown, but given the drug’s nature, it is reasonable to infer regular consumption. He ultimately succumbed to his illness in 1849 at the age of 39.
1 Horatio Nelson
Lord Horatio Nelson, England’s naval hero famed for defeating Napoleon’s fleet, also battled severe health issues. A frail child, he later suffered injuries that left him with a lost arm and a blinded eye. Persistent pain and insomnia drove him to laudanum.
Despite his constant agony, Nelson continued to command his forces, relying on a daily dose of laudanum to stay alert. Even as feverish and barely able to move, he led his troops to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. He died shortly after the triumph in 1805.
Opium’s reach across centuries is undeniable, touching the lives of some of history’s most eminent figures. Their stories remind us that even greatness can coexist with vulnerability.