Billions in Marijuana Taxes and Crumbling Roads Sparks Online Fight Between Polis and DeSantis

By: Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado

DENVER–An online beef erupted between Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday evening on X (previously Twitter) over legalized marijuana and Colorado’s poor road conditions.

In a thread of posts, the Florida governor said Colorado’s declining marijuana taxes have not helped alleviate anything for the state, rather the recent decrease in marijuana sales is due to a surge in the black market caused by high taxes on legal weed.

The claims led Governor Polis to jump in the conversation, defending his record.

The battle at the keyboard started from a post made by Florida’s Voice, highlighting a survey saying a majority of Floridians want the right to vote on marijuana legalization themselves, “not have lawmakers block the ballot.”

While Floridians have already voted no on marijuana legalization in 2024, a new measure is creeping its way onto the 2026 ballot. DeSantis and his administration have made efforts to stop the measure before it goes to the ballot.

Some X users commented, “didn’t we already vote no on this,” and “It’s bogus they’re making it ‘better’ while still baking in the corporate benefit through licensure,” among other critiques. One user makes the claim that taxing legalized marijuana would allow the state to eliminate property taxes.

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