Every week Elon Musk gets up to something interesting, usually involving some kind of ‘downer’.

He had a public meltdown in an interview with the New York Times a few weeks ago where he admitted to taking Ambien to sleep.

Ambien is known to cause unpredictable and erratic behaviour, so slamming it with a glass of wine, as Elon claims to do, could have a lot to do with his weirdness over the last while.

Now, fresh off of going after British diver, Vernon Unsworth, yet again with unverified claims that Unsworth is a paedophile, he made a guest appearance on a podcast with comedian Joe Rogan, and smoked a joint.

The BBC reports that “Mr Rogan offered his guest the drug, which is legal in California, as the pair discussed tech innovation and the public’s perception of Mr Musk”.

“I mean, it’s legal, right?” asked the Tesla founder, before taking a drag on the joint.

BBC business correspondent Kim Gittleson says the podcast appearance coupled with the departure of a key executive who blamed increasing public scrutiny of the company for his decision to leave has shaken investor confidence in Tesla.

Last month, Mr Musk said he was not “on weed” when he tweeted about plans to make the electric car company a private firm.

Poor Tesla. Managing that company must be the most stressful job in the world with Elon at the helm. Here he is getting steadily stoned:

Marijuana is legal in California where the podcast was recorded, so no biggie, right? Wrong.

Tesla shares fell 9% after the show aired – especially because Elon had some super “deep” moments after the high kicked in.

The pair also enjoyed whiskey during the podcast recording.

Mr Musk pointed out: “Alcohol’s a drug.”

During their conversation, Mr Musk talked about his health and his management of Tesla – which he said was the most challenging of his various businesses and projects.

To close the podcast, Mr Musk was asked if he had any concluding remarks.

“I think people should be nicer to each other,” he said.

“And give… give more credit to others and don’t assume they’re mean until you know they’re actually mean.

“It’s easy to demonise people, you’re usually wrong about it, people are nicer than you think.”

Definitely one for Wikiquote.

Generally, it wouldn’t be an issue if someone partook in a little recreational weed. The problem is that it’s becoming evident that Elon’s contradictory behaviour (I don’t smoke weed, now pass the joint), alongside his admitted abuse of something like Ambien, has raised some red flags that some are finding difficult to ignore.

The Verge uncovered reports that the US Air Force has opened investigations into Elon’s drug habit, seeing as SpaceX is a government launch provider.

However, an Air Force official tells The Verge that those reports are premature and that the military hasn’t figured out what it’s going to do.

“It’s inaccurate that there is an investigation. We’ll need time to determine the facts and the appropriate process to handle the situation,” an Air Force spokesperson told The Verge.

An investigation would make sense, especially because SpaceX launches satellites for the US Air Force. Naturally, the smoking of pot is prohibited for those in the military and those with government clearance.

I wouldn’t want someone getting philosophical during a rocket launch either.

Anyway, chances are we’ll hear more about the investigation next week. In the meantime, you can watch Elon go on again about how hard it is being a tortured genius worth billions of dollars.

Look out for the bit about the flamethrower…

[sources:bbc&theverge]