New storm for Elon Musk, this time accused of making a excessive drug use. According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk would have used hard and illegal drugs such as LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogenic mushrooms and ketamine in several circumstances in recent years, using them as an antidepressant treatment.
A situation he put in alarm executives and board members of Tesla and SpaceX worried that this drug use by the South African guru could damage not only his personal health, but also the performance of the companies and the billions in assets under his supervision, as well as put at risk public contracts signed with the United States government.
Especially i public contracts would be at risk because Elon Musk's illegal drug use would likely represent a violation of federal policies, potentially jeopardizing SpaceX's billions of dollars in government contracts.
The tycoon's lawyer, Alex Spiro, responded to the article by stating that Musk regularly passes surprise drug tests at SpaceX without ever failing one. Spiro also stated that there are other false facts in the Wall Street Journal article, but did not specify which ones or provide corrections.
Continuous drug use
Elon Musk said he has one prescription for ketamine, a psychedelic drug he uses to fight depression. In 2018, Elon Musk took acid during a party in Los Angeles, the following year he used hallucinogenic mushrooms in Mexico. Also in 2018 he publicly smoked marijuana while appearing on Joe Rogan's talk show. In 2021, however, he attended a private ketamine-based party in Miami, under the excuse of being there for the Art Basel exhibition.
“Musk is known to attend parties and events at Burning Man, Nevada's drug-heavy arts and music festival, to blow off steam, according to people close to him,” the WSJ said.
According to some sources close to the tycoon, the his drug use, especially ketamine, would be still in progress. Musk is said to frequently take LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms at private parties around the world, where guests are required to sign non-disclosure agreements or agree not to use their phones.
“Expressions of Creativity”
Until now, friends and close associates of Elon Musk, including his brother Kimbal, have justified his provocations and anti-establishment behavior as “expressions of his creativity” but now the Wall Street Journal is raising alarm that the real cause of his attitudes may be linked to the use of illegal drugs.
Violation of the Drug-Free Workplace Act
In addition to Musk's health, there are significant associated risks arising from drug abuse that may also affect the stability of his companies. And above all, the use of ketamine could cost Musk dearly, causing him to lose the public contracts signed with the American government.
Drug use could be one violation of federal policies, putting SpaceX's billions of dollars in government contracts at risk. Federal contracts require businesses to comply with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, which requires drug-free work environments as a precondition for obtaining federal contracts or grants.
A possible violation of this law, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, could therefore compromise SpaceX's contracts.
