He did take drugs. In fact, he basically wrote novels to support his hobby. When he got low on cash, he would lock himself in his shed for a week with a bunch o

He did take drugs. In fact, he basically wrote novels to support his hobby. When he got low on cash, he would lock himself in his shed for a week with a bunch of amphetamines and bang out a novel. He hated LSD though. Toward the end of his career, he quit drugs when he saw what had happened to all his friends. The preface to A Scanner Darkly, the first book he wrote off drugs, lists all the friends he lost. It seems that he didn't really need the drugs anymore when the pink beam event occurred. After that incident, he started to have all sorts of hallucinations that he lead a duel life as a Christian being persecuted by Nero.