Elon Musk on Psychedelics and Big Pharma – Cannabis News, Lifestyle

Elon Musk challenges the establishment again by tweeting about psychedelics and big pharma. He tweeted that an antidepressant, Wellbutrin, was unsafe and should be taken off the market. He then touted the benefits of psychedelics in relieving mental health problems.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in April and has pledged to keep the platform censorship-free.

Is Elon Musk Right About Psychedelics And Big Pharma?

“It is extremely disturbing that a man who blithely gives opinions on medicine would be willing to acquire this entire platform,” tweeted Daniel Summers, a pediatrician.

Tyler Black, a pharmacologist at the University of British Columbia, called Musk’s views on Wellbutrin “essentially medical misinformation.”

Of course for a generation that has lost the value of freedom of speech. Musk may or may not be right. But he is not misinformed. As he tweeted, “Every time this drug comes up in conversation, someone at the table has a history of suicide or near suicide.”

In response to other tweets, Elon wrote, “I’ve spoken to many more people who have benefited from psychedelics and ketamine than SSRIs and amphetamines.”

But again, according to Tyler Black, this is misinformation. “Psychedelics are not yet the first-line treatment for anything in psychiatry, and they may never be because the evidence doesn’t support them,” he told the Washington Post.

Of course, no one has yet successfully disputed Elon’s claim. Critics have merely made the logical fallacy of turning to authorities and denouncing anything that contradicts them as “misinformation.”

So is Elon Musk right about Wellbutrin? Should we value his opinion on psychedelics and big pharma? He may not be a medical expert, but he also doesn’t make money administering medication to vulnerable people with poor mental health.

Side Effects of Wellbutrin

Wellbutrin is the brand name of bupropion. A prescription-only antidepressant that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1985. It interacts with dopamine receptors and causes central nervous system side effects. These include:

• Gastrointestinal problems
• Increased heart rate (and other cardiovascular side effects)
• Blurred vision
• joint pain
• rash
• Dry mouth
• migraine
• dizziness
• Sore throat
• headache
• hair loss
• Strange metallic aftertaste
• constipation
• nausea and vomiting
• Heavy sweating
• agitation
• shake
• fainting spells
• restlessness
• weight gain/loss
• loss of libido
• fear
• have trouble concentrating
• insomnia
• Seizures (all antidepressants carry epilepsy risks)
• suicidal thoughts

It is said that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. But the last five side effects listed make you wonder if Wellbutrin is worth the trouble.

Especially when there are safer alternatives.

Is Elon Musk wrong about Psychedelics and Big Pharma?

Tyler Black, the BC pharmacologist who called Musk’s views “fundamental medical misinformation,” previously misinformed us. He was wrong when he said that psychedelics “may never be [used in psychiatry] because the evidence will not support it.”

A simple online search thoroughly refutes this claim.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York has a center for psychedelic psychotherapy and trauma research. They find that psilocybin and MDMA help military veterans and civilians suffering from depression and PTSD.

In November 2020, billionaire investor Peter Thiel invested $12 million (USD) in Atai Life Sciences. The Berlin company develops novel treatments for psychological problems such as depression, PTSD, anxiety and addiction. You’ll find success with compounds like psilocybin, MDMA and its derivatives, and ibogaine.

Known as an early investor in Facebook, Thiel also co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk.

Johns Hopkins Medicine has a $17 million psychedelics research center. Why spend so much money when “the evidence” doesn’t support psychedelics?

Psychedelics: The Supporting Evidence

The Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Research is one of the largest in the world. In 2006, they published double-blind psilocybin research that showed “magic mushrooms” to be safe and effective.

Johns Hopkins has also shown how (along with cognitive behavioral therapy) a psilocybin experience can end a lifelong cigarette habit. They have published results showing how a single large dose of psilocybin mushrooms has a beneficial effect on people suffering from cancer-related anxiety and depression.

They have also shown how alcoholics can reduce or end their addiction after a psychedelic experience with psilocybin, LSD or DMT. And many of these studies were experimental and double-blind. They included brain scans. They didn’t just ask people to fill out a survey after an LSD trip.

But the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research must not exist. Every so-called expert tells Elon Musk to stick to his own lane and let them do the antidepressant research. And then they routinely ignore evidence that doesn’t fit their preconceived worldview.

It’s really confusing. Because even the FDA has approved a ketamine-derived antidepressant.

Johns Hopkins Medicine eventually received a federal grant in 2020 to further his study of psychedelic research. They recommend recategorizing psilocybin from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule IV drug (to a drug with medicinal potential).

But it’s Elon Musk’s take on psychedelics and big pharma that has to be wrong. Misinformation appears to exist on only one side of the argument.

try it yourself

There is no single theory about depression. Some believe it’s a chemical imbalance in the brain. Others take stock of the inflammation theory, which says that by cutting out sugar and processed carbohydrates, the brain and body heal, allowing the mind to follow suit.

The problem with pharmaceutical antidepressants is that they target synaptic levels in the brain with varying degrees of success. Elon Musk doesn’t see much value in altering the chemical interactions of the brain. Interactions that we hardly know anything about.

After all, how do chemical interactions in the brain create consciousness?

Instead, psychedelics offer deep and genuine insight. Brain scans show that psychedelics decrease the “ego center” of the brain. Once you see yourself differently, with less ego and more connected to the world around you, you emerge better from the experience – less depressed and happier.

And you can try it yourself. If you don’t fancy psychedelics like psilocybin or LSD, there’s always cannabis. In large doses (such as edibles) one can experience similarly intense feelings and real insights. With edible cannabis, your liver processes THC and converts it into 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), producing far more significant effects than you can get from smoking or vaping.

In large enough doses, cannabis also becomes a psychedelic.

And that’s essentially Elon Musk’s take on psychedelics and big pharma. There’s nothing controversial about that. But from the way the corporate press is reacting, you’d think he just denied the Holocaust.

And yet he only challenged a system of profit and control. One who would rather see you sick, depressed and paying taxes than fulfilling your human potential and threatening those in power.