Early Last week, Elon Musk appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, breaking the web when he took a single puff of marijuana at the two-hour-and-ten minute mark. In just under 15 seconds of a podcast that topped two-and-a-half hours, he relatively did enough damage to cause Tesla’s stock to plummet 9 percent, where it remained for the remainder of the day.
Today, Tesla’s stock rate has rebounded and is back to typical. But the fifteen seconds where Musk accepted Rogan’s joint, studied it quizzically, took a single tentative puff, shrugged it off, and handed it back creating a huge buzz in the media.
While cannabis usage has actually come more into the mainstream and become more normalized than ever before, the daylong selloff and the headings that originated from Musk’s look suggest that marijuana still has a long way to precede it can conquer the preconceptions that have continued around it for decades.
Never mind that marijuana– for both medical and leisure use– is legal in California, where the interview was taped. Never mind that Musk stated he never ever smoked, or that he showed the ability to continue holding a rational and thoughtful conversation until the interview’s conclusion. And never mind that he and Rogan were consuming bourbon the entire time without incident or note. That 15-second clip has been played on loop as evidence that Musk has actually lost reliability or, in the more extreme portrayals, has ended up being unhinged.
To be sure, a public company CEO has a task to act at the highest levels of professionalism. But it may think it seems extremely problematic, especially in 2018 with the legalization growing throughout the country, that someone can be stereotyped as unhinged for taking in a percentage of marijuana.
This demonstrates more than maybe anything else that a genuine and rampant double standard exists. When the celebrity host asks, ” You most likely cannot because of investors, right?”, either as an obstacle or a warning. “Do individuals get upset at you if you do certain things?”
“I indicate, it’s legal, ideal?” Musk reacted. And after that, after a quick puff followed by a quick backward and forward about alcohol, the pair carried on.
At the end of the day, Musk could have announced the most revolutionary, visionary, world-transforming technology during his long discussion with Rogan. But that coverage would likely have still been absolutely eclipsed by this drama.
While it is relatively uncommon for a public business CEO to freely consume or smoke anything in a public interview or commonly broadcast public forum, Musk’s appearance with Joe Rogan shows a stark contrast in how we think about marijuana and how we view those who use it. Cannabis is now legal for medical and/or leisure usage in 31 states and the District of Columbia, and the marketplace for cannabis and marijuana products is only poised to continue its remarkable growth.
That such a small part of a comprehensive interview is all that the majority of will become aware of or keep in mind states everything about the existing state of affairs and the stigmas that remain even in spite of rapid legalization efforts and successes.
It’s tough to fathom the backlash that’s happened, specifically in California where the plant is regulated. However, Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, which supplies satellite launching services to the federal government. That’s why he has a security clearance. However, let us not forget that cannabis is still federally prohibited. Thus, cannabis-use is strictly forbidden for those with a security clearance, along with military personnel.
By: Mckenzie Santa Maria
Source: The Recover News Room