Elon Musk has denied allegations of illegal drug use amid reports that Tesla and SpaceX executives are increasingly concerned about his behaviour. He claimed that ''not even trace quantities'' of drugs or alcohol were found in his body over three years of random drug tests, Forbes reported.
The billionaire's response comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms typically at parties, for years.
Mr Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro responded to The Wall Street Journal report, and said that the article was reporting "false facts". He added that the tech billionaire agreed to undergo random drug testing for three years after his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast in 2018, where the 52-year-old was seen smoking marijuana.
In a reply to a post mentioning the WSJ report, Mr. Musk wrote on X, ''After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA's request, to do 3 years of random drug testing. Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.''
See the post here:
Notably, Mr Musk hit the headlines after he smoked weed on Joe Rogan's podcast in 2018. He later downplayed the incident, saying he only took 'one puff'. The incident led the Pentagon to review his federal security clearance, which was tied to his company SpaceX's work with the U.S. Air Force.
He told biographer Walter Isaacson, "SpaceX was a NASA contractor, and they are big believers in the law," Musk told Isaacson. "So I had to be subjected to random drug tests for a couple of years. Fortunately, I don't like doing illegal drugs.''
However, in the past, the Tesla CEO has admitted to taking ketamine, a dissociative drug to treat depression. According to The Wall Street Journal, Mr Musk told friends he “microdoses” the drug, taking small amounts to help manage depression.
Ketamine, an anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects, is a controlled substance in the US and can only be legally administered by a medical professional.
It is to be noted that any form of illegal drug usage would violate corporate regulations at both SpaceX and Tesla, in addition to breaking federal contracts. It would also cast doubt on Musk's leadership role at the publicly listed Tesla, where the board is tasked with monitoring management on behalf of shareholders.
