Maybe, but we don't need to get into illegal drugs, that just seems to far for dwarf fort, we don't need to make a political statement.
I don't see why this would be needed, but I mean, it could exists, as a little thing you can do to make dwarfs happy. Dwarfs buy pipes, and smoke when they are on break or something. Works for me.
First off, what's illegal to Dwarfs in DF should be determined by the raws and a (ideally) procedurally generated code of laws, no? Well, I think that if drugs of any sort are in, so long as they are modeled realistically (as in, with the appropriate side (or intended) effects and uses), then there is no overt political statement and it will enrich the game, in my opinion. Believe me, there is a reason highly addictive drugs are looked down upon; among other things, it's not the most productive thing in the world to have half a population in an opium induced state of lethargy, or another part of the population tantrum-spiralling because of withdrawals. But that's all another can of worms.
Thumbs down on the idea of illegal drugs though, that would be totally anachronistic. The earliest mention I've heard of illegal drugs is opium being outlawed in 18th centuring Qing China during the opium wars... at the same time opium and laudanum were entirely legal in Britain, which is part of why the British just thought the Chinese were being whiny legalist anti-free-trade authoritarians.
Love the idea of intoxicant effects for certain smokeables, though... greater focus and stamina from coca leaves (only grows in tropical biomes) or tobacco... a really great one would be opium addiction. Dwarves become lethargic with increased risk of melancholy from opium, of course. How about merchants bringing opium and addicted dwarves violating "broker trade only" and giving away all of their personal possessions, possibly stealing from others, to get their next fix?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1034978/pdf/medhist00126-0026.pdfhttp://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/SCA/hempnettle.htmlThink again! It is quite historical for the technological period we are interested in!
Recreational drug use and addiction
are medieval as well as modern phenomena, though perhaps (and that "perhaps" is speculation) not as widespread. Smoking of stuff, at least in the West during the medieval period was NOT widespread if existant at all. BUT in the middle east and eastern Europe, smoking may have existed. The effects of hemp, opium, and other such drugs were in fact known to people as early as Greek times, and hemp and opium were in fact used by apothecaries/medical practitioners as treatments in the Middle East throughout medieval times and by the Greeks much earlier. Read the first link: it is veeeery interesting.
Smoking in the modern sense (as in, with a cigarette or a pipe) is a bit iffy as I am not sure if many, if any, pipes remain. HOWEVER, incense throughout history was burnt, and I don't think it would have escaped many apothecary's/priest/whatever's mind as a possible medium of delivery for therapeutic (or recreational) effects. This is all still an actively researched area, and as more archaeological crap is uncovered, and certain areas of turmoil calm down and allow access to historical stuff, a more clear picture of life throughout the ages is emerging.
Take home points about IRL Historical (Medieval and Ancient) Drug Use:
1. Drug use, addiction, recreational and medicinal = YES; Military = NEED TO LOOK INTO IT
2. Smoking = MAYBE
3. Thriving drug trade = YES
4. Does the historical community know all there is to know? = EMPHATIC NO
ALSO!!!!
This makes me think: incense would be a great thing to have in the game, if anything. Happy thoughts from good smells and bad thoughts from bad smells would be cool. Also, think of the ceremonial implications! And, also... shamans and underground hallucinogenic mushrooms? But that might be for another thread.