# Was Dr Seuss on heroin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855 "2009-05-27T22:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/1 "2009-05-27T22:26:53Z")
My coworker is swearing up and down that not only was Dr Seuss a heroin junkie, but that many of his stories were about heroin. I call bullshit on both counts, but am wondering if anyone hear has heard anything similar to give this coworker the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/2 "2009-05-27T23:36:40Z")
I have never heard this or any rumor like it. Can your coworker provide some evidence? ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/3 "2009-05-27T23:42:22Z")
Nope. No evidence so far. But as he’s my boss, I’m humoring him with this “search for truth”. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/4 "2009-05-28T00:00:05Z")
Everyone knows Seuss was smoking bananas. That’s why he wrote Mellow Yellow and gave it to his old college buddy, Paul McCartney. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/5 "2009-05-28T00:12:19Z")
OK, he’s backing off the heroin claim now. Though the story he’s referring to is “Oh the places you will go.” _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/6 "2009-05-28T00:48:37Z")
Has your boss actually read many Dr. Seuss books? It’s obvious the dude was on acid! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/7 "2009-05-28T03:08:44Z")
I had heard that Lewis Carroll was hitting the opium pipe when he wrote Alice In Wonderland. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/8 "2009-05-28T04:33:39Z")
My WAG is acid and weed, maybe a little opium . . . not heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/9 "2009-05-28T04:40:13Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My WAG is acid and weed, maybe a little opium . . . not heroin. I have no actual data to back this up other than I read a bunch of Seuss when I was little, then 10+ year later I dabbled in drugs, but I’d agree with this. The earlier Alice in Wonderland/Lewis Carrol quote, he was most definitely dabbling in hallucinogens, the heroin is up for debate though ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/10 "2009-05-28T04:55:57Z")
I’ve heard that rumour. It was even parodied on _the Dick Van Dyke Show_, where Laura and Rob are trying to each sell their own story to a kiddie book publisher and the publisher says about one of his writers “He’s not creative, he just writes what he sees.” ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/11 "2009-05-28T11:13:54Z")
That Sam I Am was definitely pushing something. But _Hop on Pop_? I just don’t see it. 😉 > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I had heard that Lewis Carroll was hitting the opium pipe when he wrote Alice In Wonderland. I heard he was hitting the little girl pipe, or hoping to. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/12 "2009-05-28T13:30:36Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > I heard he was hitting the little girl pipe, or hoping to. Not clear - [Was Lewis Carroll a perv? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1142/was-lewis-carroll-a-perv) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/13 "2009-05-28T15:56:40Z")
Green Eggs and Ham was actually pushing marijuana, isn’t it obvious. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/14 "2009-05-28T17:12:23Z")
So maybe the title is missing a comma? “Green, Eggs and Ham” ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/15 "2009-05-28T17:21:06Z")
Really? _Oh, the Places You’ll Go?_ I didn’t get a drug vibe at all; or even a silly vibe. I interpret that book as trying to describe the vast diversity and wonderfullness of the wide world to a very small child to whom the actual exotic names and places would mean nothing. (tell them “Angkor Wat” or “capybara” and they don’t get it. This is why “Timbuktu” and “platypus” are more popular. They already sound like Dr. Seuss. ;)) It’s one of my favorite books, because I feel the same way about the world. Even though I haven’t travelled very far, I have seen some amazing and ridiculous stuff, because it’s everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/16 "2009-05-28T18:15:51Z")
> [@Mr\_Buttons](#): > > The earlier Alice in Wonderland/Lewis Carrol quote, he was most definitely dabbling in hallucinogens, the heroin is up for debate though First off, the book is called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it’s Lewis Carrol **l**. In my college research I wasn’t able to find any biographers that believed that Carroll experimented with drugs. I still have my Works Cited page handy. Do you have any evidence to back up the claim that he was “most definitely dabbling in hallucinogens”? As far as pedophile accusations, he did have a fondness for young girls, and I suspect there was probably some sexual attraction as well. But there’s no reason to believe he ever “crossed the line” or acted inappropriately on his impulses. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/17 "2009-05-28T19:03:10Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > But _Hop on Pop_? I just don’t see it. Don’t you get it? He was a _hop_head who was into skin-_pop_ping. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/18 "2009-05-28T19:13:02Z")
Drugs would definitely explain the Wocket in his Pocket, not to mention the Nooth Grush on his Toothbrush. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/19 "2009-05-29T01:05:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Everyone knows Seuss was smoking bananas. That’s why he wrote Mellow Yellow and gave it to his old college buddy, Paul McCartney. Mellow Yellow is by Donovan, not Paul McCartney. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855/20 "2009-05-29T03:11:39Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Mellow Yellow is by Donovan, not Paul McCartney. McCartney did backup vocals and I can’t imagine he was very far from the writing process. It’s his kind of brainless. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-seuss-on-heroin/497855.md?page=2)