Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) hit former Vice President Joe Biden over his recent remarks that he won’t legalize marijuana.
“I thought you might have been high when you said it,” Booker said during Wednesday’s debate to laughs from the audience.
“Marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged people,” Booker continued, adding that the war on drugs has been a war on black and brown Americans.
Booker added that this is one of the issues Democrats will need to address in order to win in 2020.
He also said that no candidate needs a focus group to know that black voters are “pissed off.”
“I have a lifetime of experience with black voters. I’ve been one since I was 18,” Booker said about understanding African American voters.
{mosads}Biden pushed back, saying that he believes “we should decriminalize” marijuana and adding that anyone with a marijuana-related record should be let out of jail and have their record expunged.
However, he also doubled down on his position that there needs to be continued research on the “long-term effects” of marijuana use.
And he defended his record with African American voters.
“I come out of the black community in terms of support,” Biden said.
Biden said he would not legalize marijuana during a recent town hall in Las Vegas. He said there is not “enough evidence” as to “whether or not it is a gateway drug.”