Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and entrepreneur Elon Musk—leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—shared a laugh on the senator’s podcast over the idea of boosting viewership by smoking marijuana.
Musk revealed that he had been born 69-days after the April 20 or 4/20 holiday, which is the unofficial marijuana celebration.
Cruz, who is opposed to marijuana legalization, played along.
Musk had previously puffed a joint on Joe Rogan’s podcast. The Senator said he would have asked a producer if he should bring a joint to the interview.
Cruz stated, “I was pretty certain it would cause scandals if we smoke pot.”
It proved to be scandalous even before Musk—who owns Telsa, SpaceX and the social media company X—made his splash into federal politics. NASA began an investigation because Musk owned a federally contract aerospace corporation. They also investigated SpaceX for “adherence to drug-free environments” and its “workplace security.”
Musk has since claimed that he did not inhale the marijuana.
It doesn’t matter if the DOGE official is still joking with an anti-cannabis prohibitionist about cannabis culture, he does not seem to have a strong commitment to reforms in his role as a government official. As he works to reduce government spending, he has recently said that it is a great idea to have federal workers undergo drug tests.
DOGE also announced this month that it had cancelled federal funding for an investigation into the risks of cannabis usage among LGBTQ+ people, non-binary individuals and heterosexual females.
Cruz’s participation in the Cannabis Exchange on his Podcast is also noteworthy, considering his record as a congressman on this issue.
The senator, just last year for instance, criticised the Biden Administration’s decision to reschedule cannabis, citing an increase in traffic injuries and fatalities that he linked to legalizing adult-use marijuana.
Cruz is a strong critic of legalizing marijuana, but he has also stated that each state should be able to determine how cannabis will be regulated. “I think it ought to be up to the states,” he said during a 2018 debate. I think Colorado could decide in one direction. Texas, I believe, can make a different decision.
The Senator has also criticised the recommended federal guidance regarding alcohol consumption.
During an interview with Newsmax in 2023, the senator drank a beer on camera and said federal health officials “can kiss my ass” if they decided to move forward with a plan to reduce the recommended maximum consumption of alcohol to two drinks per week.
Cruz also laid into a Biden judicial nominee during a 2022 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, asserting that the judge had been a “partisan advocate for causes,” including “legalizing potent strains of marijuana.”
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