Elon Musk's 'Exploratory Journeys' And Charts Explaining Benefits Of Psychedelics Over Alcohol

Elon Musk has been forthcoming about psychedelic drugs and is not shy about discussing them and their benefits. He’s also been supportive of cannabis legalization. 

The billionaire shared a chart with a friend, which showed MDMA and psychedelic mushrooms are healthier than alcohol use, according to the friend who told  The New York Times.

The Times, reported The Insider, then spoke with over 40 people who have spent time with Musk over the past 15 years, many of whom signed non-disclosure agreements or similar in order to attend parties with Musk. The Times also reported that for the past 20 years, Musk has attended nearly every Burning Man festival, usually with his younger brother Kimbal Musk and a friend he met there.

"I have been with him on mild exploratory journeys," said David Marglin, a Bay Area lawyer who met Musk at Burning Man where they struck up a 20-year friendship. "And he appreciates the value of those journeys. Nothing out of control or wild, but it's all night, and there's dancing and revelry."

In the past, the Tesla TSLA CEO has expressed support for psychedelics and ketamine. Earlier this year, he was part of a conversation between two Twitter users, one of whom, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen referred to a 2016 New York Times feature about Adderall and wondered whether “our present society was caused by social media. I'm wondering whether Adderall plus ubiquitous Google searches have bigger effects.”

Musk responded, "I've talked to many more people who were helped by psychedelics & ketamine than SSRIs & amphetamines."

More recently, the billionaire said in an interview with Full Send Podcast that he thinks psychedelics can be "pretty helpful" for PTSD and depression. Musk also noted he and the "whole of SpaceX" had been subjected to random drug tests for a year after he appeared on a podcast with Joe Rogan in which he smoked weed.

Musk is far not the only successful tech CEO who has shown interest in psychedelics. Apple founder Steve Jobs also talked about microdosing psychedelics drugs, such as LSD or psilocybin mushrooms in order to promote creativity. Jobs also spent time in India seeking enlightenment and studying Zen Buddhism.