Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) was a English writer and intellectual, best known for his 1821 publication Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .
While some theorize that De Quincey’s opium habit started as a form of self-medication for genuine physical ailments that afflicted him, by his own account, his first use of opium started in 1804 and was for “pleasure.” Although he started as a weekly user, the addiction crept up on him and he found himself using daily and then using at higher and higher dosages.