I don't know... I think some classes of drugs amplify someones shittyness. Call it Inherent Shittyness (IS). Time is a big factor, too. The longer they are on drugs, theore shitty they become.
Δ Shittyness = IS x drug amount x duration
Sometimes people get off illegal drugs and become decent again, but
I also think that everyone has a Decency score, where
Net Shittyness (NS) = IS + Decency
Some drugs remove the Decency filter such that NS = IS. If a person knows they have a high IS, and that, say, alcohol temporarily lets that show through, and they care about their perceived NS, then it behooves them to stay away from it.
I've read articles like this since I started working in silicon valley in 2012, but I haven't seen it in person. Maybe some selection bias at play, but I'm generally pretty open.
Stuff I have seen:
- LSD usage is pretty common relative to where I grew up (midwest-ish), but usually rare (once a year, burning man, someone has tried it once) even so, I'd still guess this is a pretty small minority - I guess 15% max? I'd guess mostly this is curiosity driven, reading about it, etc. I've never seen anyone seriously use it as a productivity drug.
- Adderall is more common, but that's because it's prescribed (and it works well so everyone thinks they have ADHD if they take it) - I haven't seen it abused, I've heard people talk about modafinil but have never met anyone that was actually taking it. Even in the adderall/adhd case, I'd guess 20% max? Most people I work with do not take it.
- Ketamine I don't know anyone that's tried it beyond someone in the therapy trials and non-techie druggie types.
Maybe it's more common and I'm not in the right circles, but I don't really buy it. I think it's rare and elevated by articles like this because it's salacious not because it's common. I'd guess my made up percentages are also too high.
Personally, I haven't witness any drug use in the various developer circles I've run except for ADHD meds. The number on ADHD meds is somewhere around 5-10% I would guess...
