Bill Gates Admits to Using Both Weed and LSD in His Youth to Impress Women
Microsoft founder Bill Gates revealed in a rare interview that he experimented with LSD about six times in his youth and also had some experiences with cannabis.
According to him, he wouldn’t recommend the experience to anyone, but admitted that these choices were partly influenced by his desire to impress the opposite sex.
The billionaire talked about his youthful experiments in his upcoming memoir, Source Code, set to be released next week. He recalled trying LSD in high school on what he called a “skip day,” when students would leave classes early. Gates said he took LSD that day but barely remembered the experience and only felt its effects the next morning at the dentist.
Jokingly, he blamed some of these experiences on his friends and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who had a well-known influence on him. “It’s all Paul Allen’s fault and Jimi Hendrix’s,” Gates quipped.
Reflecting on his cannabis use, Gates admitted that in his youth, he used weed in the hope of appearing “cooler” or “more approachable.” “I thought maybe some girls would like it, but that didn’t really work,” he confessed.
While Gates had previously avoided discussing his past drug use, he has recently shown more interest in cannabis policy. In a 2025 conversation with actor Seth Rogen, Gates acknowledged how much cannabis culture has changed since his school days. He pointed out the contradictions in U.S. state laws on marijuana, suggesting that the issue should be addressed more clearly.
He also added that, for him, smoking weed wasn’t as much about the substance itself as it was about socializing and the culture around it. “It was more about being part of a group than doing it for a specific reason,” he explained. However, he noted that cannabis products have changed drastically today, warning that regulations should focus on limiting extreme THC levels, especially in edible products. “If I smoked back then, it meant lighting a joint. Now if I take something, I could be high all day,” Gates remarked.
Gates’ candid memories highlight how his views on drug use have evolved and how personal experiences shape perspectives on larger social issues, including modern cannabis legalization.
