(Photo Credit: Jim Watson / AFP / Getty)

Cory Bookers goes after Biden at Democratic Debate

At the Democratic debate on Wednesday night, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey grilled former Vice President Joe Biden about his stance on marijuana legalization, calling the War on Drugs a “war on black people.” Biden has expressed reservations about legalizing marijuana, saying there is still evidence that marijuana use is a “gateway” to harder drug addiction.

“I heard him literally say ‘I don’t think we should legalize marijuana. I thought you might have been high when you said it,” Booker said.

Biden took issue with Booker’s comment, saying he merely wanted to study the science behind marijuana use before legalizing it nationwide. That was when Booker called marijuana laws a “war on black and brown people.”

“Marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged people,” Booker said. “There are people in Congress right now that admit to smoking marijuana, while there are people—our kids are in jail right now for those drug crimes.”

Booker says that if he is elected President, he will support full marijuana legalization. He would also push to expunge the records of people convicted of marijuana-related offenses while it was still illegal.

Biden is one of the only Democratic candidates for president who has not endorsed legalization. However, he disputed Booker’s claim that his stance made him anti-minority.

“I’m part of the Obama coalition,” Biden said. “I come out of the black community in terms of my support. If you notice, I have more people supporting me in the black community, that have announced for me, because they know me, they know who I am.”