Senator Cory Booker: Marijuana is Safer Than McDonald’s French Fries

The timing is notable. With federal cannabis reform still stalled and the rescheduling debate dragging on, even offhand remarks like this are landing with outsized political weight—especially in a year where 4/20 is as much about policy as it is about culture.

“I am the leader in the Senate for descheduling marijuana, but we should schedule McDonald’s french fries,” said Sen. Cory Booker, who has sponsored several bills to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

“I don’t know what they put on them,” he quipped. “I think it is an illegal substance.” 

While the comment was lighthearted, the context is anything but. The Senator made the remark while discussing the slow pace of the Schedule III reclassification process. Moving cannabis to Schedule III would acknowledge medical use and ease some research barriers—but it would stop short of full legalization, leaving key issues like criminalization and banking access unresolved.

The comparison, while tongue-in-cheek, taps into a broader contradiction: substances with known public health risks remain widely accessible and normalized, while cannabis—legal in much of the country—continues to sit in a federal gray zone.

Social Equity and the “War on Spuds”

As he went viral, Booker used the moment to pivot to his core mission: restorative justice. He pointed out the irony that while politicians joke about their own consumption (or their love for fast food), thousands of Americans—disproportionately people of color—still carry criminal records for simple possession. Despite shifting laws, cannabis-related arrests still occur across the U.S., often reinforcing long-standing disparities in enforcement.

Just days prior, Donald Trump made headlines for having McDonald's delivered to the White House to celebrate his “No Tax on Tips” legislation. Booker’s jab at the “danger” of the fries is being seen by some as a subtle political counterpoint to the administration’s recent optics—whether intentional or not, it places his remarks in quiet contrast with a political climate where symbolism often outweighs policy substance.

Booker has also weighed in on the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, a proposal designed to expand marijuana businesses’ access to essential banking and financial services.

“As a legislator, for me, that might get us an opening to some of the things that are stalled in Congress,” he said, Marijuana Moment reported. “But ultimately that’s where I feel more comfortable, so that no matter who the president is, we have a structure that works to end the injustices and to liberate, frankly, an industry that has been severely hamstrung.” 

The episode highlights how far cannabis has come—and how far it still has to go, as public acceptance continues to outpace federal reform.

Read more from Soft Secrets:

• 4/20 Cannabis Holiday Guide: History, Events, and Culture

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