Bernie Sanders And AOC Joke About Marijuana At Nationally Televised Town Hall Meeting

Two prominent progressive members of Congress joked about marijuana at a televised town hall meeting on Wednesday, with one making sure to say that it should be legalized in more states across the country.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), speaking at the CNN-hosted event, made a cannabis quip while rejecting calls from some Republicans to end the federal government shutdown ahead of negotiations on healthcare issues.

“No. Based on their history, they have had months and months. This is not a new thing,” Sanders said. “Ever since Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ was passed, we knew this was happening.”

“And anyone who thinks that tomorrow they’ll suddenly start negotiating, I think, is smoking what is illegal in many states,” he said, referring to marijuana.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) chimed in to say that cannabis “should be legal in more” states.

Sanders: They have refused to negotiate. And anyone thinks that tomorrow they'll suddenly start negotiating. I think, is smoking what is illegal in many states

AOC: And should be legal in more. pic.twitter.com/tSdEtlnMcy

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 16, 2025

Both lawmakers have long supported efforts to reform cannabis policies.

During his 2016 campaign, Sanders became the first major presidential candidate to endorse marijuana legalization. He also filed the first-ever Senate bill to end federal cannabis prohibition.

Sanders’s 2020 campaign released a marijuana reform plan outlining steps he would take to end federal cannabis prohibition and ensure that the industry is equitable. At one point the independent senator said that he would use executive action to federally legalize marijuana in all 50 states on the first day of his presidency.

Ocasio-Cortez, for her part, has voted in favor of bills to federally legalize cannabis on the House floor and has sponsored legislation to incentivize the expungement of cannabis convictions at the state level.

In an interview with Marijuana Moment earlier this year, she criticized the anti-cannabis views of the Trump administration’s acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, saying that if he is so concerned about potential health risks from cannabis, “then maybe he should deschedule marijuana so it can be freely studied.”

“Does he have a medical degree? He doesn’t even have a medical degree,” the congresswoman said, adding that “we can also learn from states that have not criminalized marijuana but have treated it as a substance, the same as alcohol and many other substances as well.”

Last year Ocasio-Cortez suggested that President Donald Trump, who was then running for his current term in office, might be faking his stated support for cannabis reform.

His stance in favor of federal rescheduling and industry banking access “sounds like a Hail Mary to me,” she told Marijuana Moment, adding, “I don’t think he’s serious” about the position.