In an interview with former CNN anchor Don Lemon posted on Monday, Elon Musk confirmed that he has a ketamine prescription, adding that it serves the best interests of investors in Tesla Inc.
When asked about his ketamine prescription, Musk seemed to be offended, replying it was “pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription.”
He then explained, “There are times when I have a … negative chemical state in my brain, like depression, I guess, or, like, depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind.”
During the interview, Musk recommended those struggling with their mental health to to consult their doctors about ketamine as an alternative to SSRI medications.
Musk believes he does not abuse the use of the drug because if he were to use it excessively, he would not be able to sustain his rigorous work schedule of 16-hour days without taking weekends off.
He noted that he only consumes a small quantity of ketamine every other week, and there are often several weeks where he doesn’t use it at all.
“From the standpoint of Wall Street, what matters is execution,” Musk argued, adding that “Tesla is worth about as much as the rest of the car industry combined.”
“From an investor standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, I should keep taking it.”
According to a Wall Street Journal article published in January, executives within Tesla and SpaceX had become worried about Musk’s recreational drug use.
Should this admission worry investors?
According to Reuters, it was reported that Musk had allegedly used drugs such as LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms.
The Journal report also raised concerns that Musk’s alleged illegal drug use could potentially violate federal policies, posing a risk to SpaceX’s government contracts.
In response to the Wall Street Journal report Musk stated that he had agreed to undergo three years of random drug testing at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a partner of SpaceX, and no traces of drugs or alcohol were found during these tests.
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. @WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird 💩
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2024
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, while ketamine is known as a horse tranquilizer and has been misused as a dissociative drug, it is also an approved medical product that is currently being utilized in clinical and psychiatric settings.
Physicians have the authority to prescribe ketamine for pain management and depression treatment. At higher doses, the drug functions as a sedative.
Lemon stated last week that Musk terminated an exclusive partnership “The Don Lemon Show” had with the platform X.
His approach was basically just “CNN, but on social media”, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.
And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.
All this said, Lemon/Zucker are…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024
“His approach was basically just CNN, but on social media, which doesn’t work,” Musk posted on X.
