Why Elon Musk’s Marijuana Legalization Tweet Matters This Time Around

Elon Musk Weed Tweets

Elon is doing a victory lap from SpaceX, and then unloaded the cannabis tweet of all-time

Elon Musk, the eccentric and brilliant founder of Tesla, as well as SpaceX and being a member of the original “PayPal Mafia”, recently unloaded a cannabis tweet that has been on the minds of millions of pro-cannabis fans’ mind since legalization happened in Canada over 18 months ago. Begging the question why people are sitting in jail now serving long sentences for growing and selling marijuana, when C-Suites and shareholders are making millions of dollars doing the exact same transaction. Anti-pot prohibitionist will tell you that they sold the plant without a state or government license and before it was legalized in much of North America, hence, they did the crime at the time it was illegal, so they should do the time. As inhuman as that is, the cover got blown off the argument this past week with the death of George Floyd and the proceeding protests around systematic racism in the judicial system. A disproportionate about of minorities are jailed for marijuana and other drug offenses compared to white offenders. The same systematic racism that exists in police force action and enforcement is also found in application of drug laws and sentencing in America.

Elon Musk is no stranger to starting Twitter controversy, going so far as to tweet about Tesla stock prices and predictions and causing the SEC to reprimand him and remove him from the board of director position as Tesla. Why is this tweet so different from many of his other controversial tweets, including one that called one of the rescue divers on the stuck boys in the submerged cave a pedophile?

Timing

As they say in life, timing is everything. Elon is currently enjoying a worldwide victory lap for the recent SpaceX launch of two astronauts into space and successful docking with the International Space Station. SpaceX is the first successful commercial space flight in history and has opened the door to “recreational” space flights, as well as lowering the cost of space missions of the US and other countries. Elon Musk’s up-and-down reputation on Twitter is at an all-time space-high and tweeting about marijuana legalization during his victory tour is a grand stage, indeed.

The timing also coincides with America looking in the mirror at its history and present opinions on race relations and “white privilege”. The manor and recording of George Floyd’s death shook all Americans to the core and opened up painful admissions and conversations between races and classes in America.

The fact that marijuana sentencing, and convictions, are so lopsidedly unfair to minority defendants is not lost on Musk. The same racist structures that enables white police officers to treat minorities with a different set of rules, also enables judges and prosecutors to pass much harsher sentences on Black defendants accused of drug crimes compared to White defendants who are accused of the same crime.

Benefits

Elon Musk is no stranger to weed, at once saying it was not a good thing as being stoned made you feel like a stone, and sitting on a stone. He later seemed to change course by smoking a blunt on Joe Rogan’s podcast which got him on hot water with NASA and national security officials since Musk must keep a high government clearance for all his work with NASA and national security. Smoking weed on a national stream TV with Joe Rogan is a no-no for government clearance and trustworthiness they say, who knew?

Will anything come of Elon’s tweet? In one sense, yes, he is a high-profile public figure who is endorsing the legalization, or at least decriminalization of weed. So that is a good thing. Most politicians can’t stand him because he speaks his mind and calls on common sense to many issues, which doesn’t play well to the left and right parties in America. He is no fan of President Trump so I don’t think you will see the president moving heaven and earth to make Elon’s commentary come true. Since California already has legal recreational and medical cannabis, there is not much Governor Newsome will do to appease Musk, especially since Musk threatened to pull Tesla completely out of California over COVID-19 restrictions in the workplace.

The tweet may not help with legalization, but it may help with decriminalizing cannabis and releasing non-violent offenders who are serving harsh sentences for selling and growing a plant which is now legal in many parts of North America. The fact that public companies with market caps in the billions are selling the same plant that many minority offenders are sitting in jail doing time for needs to change, and Musk may be just the man to make that happen.