NASA reportedly paid SpaceX $5 million to make sure its employees didn't use illegal drugs after Elon Musk smoked pot on camera

Joe Rogan Experience/YouTube

• NASA paid SpaceX $5 million so the company could conduct a workplace-culture review after CEO Elon Musk was filmed smoked marijuana during an interview, Politico's Jacqueline Feldscher reported.
• The review reportedly includes education and enforcement initiatives designed to prevent illegal drug-use by SpaceX employees.
• While marijuana is legal in California where Musk's September 2018 interview with Joe Rogan was conducted, it is illegal under federal law, and federal employees and contractors are barred from using illegal drugs.
• Space industry experts told Politico that there is no apparent precedent for NASA paying a contractor to conduct an internal review similar to the one SpaceX is reportedly undergoing.
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NASA paid SpaceX $5 million so the company could conduct a workplace-culture review after CEO Elon Musk was filmed smoked marijuana during an interview, Politico's Jacqueline Feldscher reported.

The review reportedly includes education and enforcement initiatives designed to prevent illegal drug use by SpaceX employees. While marijuana is legal in California where Musk's September 2018 interview with Joe Rogan was conducted, it is illegal on a federal level, and federal employees and contractors are barred from using illegal drugs.

Space industry experts told Politico that there is no apparent precedent for NASA paying a contractor to conduct an internal review similar to the one SpaceX is reportedly undergoing. Boeing, which is competing with SpaceX to build a capsule to carry astronauts into space as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, was also required to conduct a workplace-culture review, but did not receive funding from NASA to do so, according to Politico's report.

The publication notes that Boeing received $1.7 billion more from NASA for its Commercial Crew Program contract than SpaceX did.

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NASA told Politico that it is "standard practice" for contractors to receive extra funding for work that was not detailed in their original contract, but did not tell the publication why Boeing did not also receive funding for its workplace-culture review.

NASA, SpaceX, and Boeing did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Read Politico's full story here.