It’s impossible to know what goes on in the mind of Elon Musk. The man who leads Tesla and the privately-held SpaceX Corporation is a genius and a visionary. But his judgment and maturity are now being called into question. Musk generated wide ranging problems for himself, his companies and his investors after smoking cannabis during a live interview on the Joe Rogan podcast September 6.
Video of Musk smoking marijuana went viral and within hours, Tesla’s stock price dropped precipitously, the company’s chief accounting officer resigned, and the U.S. Air Force began scrutinizing Musk’s conduct. His high-profile pot smoking fueled questions about his “erratic,” behavior. Jefferies Group stock analyst Philippe Houchois was quoted by the Seattle Times describing Musk as a man who, “seems to be on a slightly self-destructive bent.” James Albertine, another stock analyst, drafted a research report expressing alarm because, “The ongoing, effectively self-inflicted public relations crisis is now affecting key personnel within the organization.”
Some social commentators have defended Musk’s public cannabis use because after all, lots of us have used marijuana in the past. Others see it as the ultimate hypocrisy after a former Tesla employee who used medical marijuana lost her job for failing a drug test while the CEO gets a pass to smoke pot in a live interview.
The primary concern over Musk’s public cannabis display is less about culture and more about simple good judgment. When we place people in leadership positions, we expect a level of maturity commensurate to that position. For those who disagree with this premise, I suggest reviewing President Trump’s Twitter feed.
We want serious people in executive positions and for good reason; the fitness, judgment and maturity of such people has a tremendous impact on the lives of thousands, even millions, of individuals. In Musk’s case, investors, customers and consumers have a lot at stake in Tesla and SpaceX, and they have every right to expect him to behave like a grown up. The question for us in Jefferson County is whether we have similar expectations for the people who govern us. Greg Brotherton’s campaign for the Board of County Commissioners has been dogged by concerns related to a video of him smoking from a bong. He produced and released this video while serving on the Quilcene School Board. It is part of a series of online features promoting his cannabis store, which has suffered sharply declining sales since peaking more than three years ago. (The photo at the top, if you didn’t already know, is Brotherton in his bong-smoking scene).
Like Musk, there are multiple concerns about Brotherton’s fitness for the position he seeks. Some people question the propriety of a cannabis retailer on the BoCC when the rate of illegal marijuana use by high school sophomores in Jefferson County is 76% higher than the state average. Other concerns revolve around how a commissioner who owns a cannabis store can conscientiously fulfill their role of fighting drug use in the county. Both concerns are entirely valid.
But unlike Musk, who was taken unawares in a spontaneous moment during a live interview with a comedian, Brotherton was a willing participant and driving force behind his bong smoking video. Musk’s indiscretion may be chalked up to a momentary lapse of judgment; Brotherton’s was premeditated to the point of being scripted.
Illegal marijuana transaction in Brotherton movie
Regardless of one’s opinion on the safety of marijuana, the more vexing question for all of us is whether we expect our elected representatives to rise above such foolishness. This is not about the use of cannabis. It’s about fitness and it’s fair to ask whether any person who, as an adult, films themselves doing bong hits has the maturity and good judgment to be one of just three individuals seated on the highest governing body of the county.
Greg Brotherton fancies himself a filmmaker and I’m sure it was a lot of fun producing videos of himself and others reenacting what it was like getting stoned during the days of marijuana prohibition in Washington state. But this isn’t a stunt by a college boy engaged in some fanciful caper. These are the antics of a grown man, a father and a husband. Do we really want to elect a person whose poor judgment and immaturity are a slap in the face of every parent coping with a teenager fighting a drug problem? If we’re prepared to do that, we should also be prepared for Jefferson County to become a national laughingstock.
To view Greg Brotherton’s stoner movie, part 1, click here.
Scott Hogenson is a prize-winning journalist who has been a member of the academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he lectured in the School of Journalism and served as managing editor for the Wisconsin Public Radio News Network. Scott has also been a contributing editor for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., a broadcast editor for United Press International, and a news director for radio stations in Virginia and Texas.
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