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The University of Colorado had a reputation for attracting plenty of marijuana aficionados well before the drug was legalized in the state. That’s still a popular pastime on and around campus, and Deion Sanders was surprised by the number of people who decide to partake while attending a football game.
In 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington approved ballot measures that made them the first states to legalize the recreational sale and possession of marijuana within their borders. Two years later, the former ushered in a new era when dozens of dispensaries opened their doors to members of the public on January 1, 2014.
It was a game-changing development, but it wasn’t necessarily a revolutionary one for many people who resided in the progressive enclaves where weed was never too hard to track down—including Boulder, the college town that’s home to the flagship branch of the University of Colorado.
The school closed its campus to the public on 4/20 for the first time the same year the aforementioned ballot measure was passed to shut down the annual “smokeout” that had led to thousands of people flocking there to partake in the weed-smoking festivities, and you never really had to wander too far to catch a whiff of the smell that’s still fairly pretty hard to avoid if you spend enough time wallking around Boulder.
As Deion Sanders recently noted, that’s also the case if you attend a football game at Folsom Field.
Deion Sanders was surprised by the number of people who smoke weed at Colorado football games
I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest alcohol tends to be the vice of choice for most people who attend a college football game, but there are also plenty of fans who will pop an edible or hit the vape to increase their enjoyment.
Smoking of any type is not only banned within the confines of the stadium where the Colorado Buffaloes play their home games but on the entirety of the campus where it’s located. However, there are plenty of people who don’t abide by that policy.
Coach Prime recently called attention to that reality during an interview with CBS Sports Colorado where he was asked about what aspects of Folsom Field surprised him the most. He didn’t have to think very hard before pointing the finger at a certain odor he says becomes impossible to ignore at a certain point in the first half of games.
Sooo the student section in Boulder has their own unique tradition 😂🌲 pic.twitter.com/jAKjg1OvHQ
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) August 28, 2025
Here’s what he had to say:
“The smell of weed in the second quarter surprised the heck out of me. Every game I’m like, “Dang!”
It seems like every game it’s like a light-up quarter. You know what I’m saying? Is this the quarter y’all chose? I’m serious. It’s a TV timeout, it never fails, and I’m like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?”
Because I’ve never been high a day in my life, so that’s kind of new to me.”
Sounds about right.