Jonathan Lethem on "The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick"

Dick was a renowned Methamphetamine addict.
Yes, a genius as well perhaps but how dare Lethem not address this more thoroughly as a causative agent?

One theme which runs through much of Dick's writing is paranoia in one form or another. Methamphetamine can do this, as can a number of other things, as Lethem mentions. Dick was able to channel this creatively, and thus to entertain. His search, however,...?

He commented at times that he was uncomfortable at having been made an icon of drug subculture. He would relate that he had lost many friends to overdoses, and more commonly to a slow decline due to overuse of hallucinogens, amphetamines, and opiates.

I believe he appreciated the potential benefits of different substances and some have speculated that his proliferate writing may have been in part due to amphetamine use. At the same time he had learned respect for different substances from personal experience at seeing friends become sick and sometimes die from overuse. Many of his stories may serve more as cautionary tales, than anything else. What is great about his writing is that it teases the mind much like a mathematical problem, while keeping the reader interested. This combined with a detailed and balanced (much needed) critique of western society makes him not just one of the sci-fi greats but someone who may be remembered as a classicist of the late 20th century.

In a way through it might be said that he sacrificed so that others might benefit. Through hallucinogen and amphetamine use, he gained insightful experiences at the risk of his own person health. He also provided a personal model as to how to use drugs to create a productive creative product.