BOULDER, Colo. -- A few months ago, Gov. Chris Christie had a warning for residents and visitors of America's 38th state.

If he's elected to the White House, the Republican candidate said, he will use federal laws that ban the sale of marijuana to crack down on states like Colorado that have legalized pot purchases.

"If you're getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it," Christie, a former federal prosecutor, said during a speech in July. "As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws."

Christie is in the Centennial State on Wednesday, as he and his GOP rivals take part in the third Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado.

RELATED: Live coverage of the 3rd GOP Presidential debate

But talk to a few students on campus, and they don't seem afraid of Christie snatching legal pot away from the state. After all, they say, Christie is polling toward the bottom of the packed field vying for the Republican nomination.

"I know he won't even get out of the primary," said Jaideep Mangat, a junior at the school. "So he doesn't intimidate us."

Boulder may be one of the least likely places on the planet to agree with Christie's stance on pot. For that matter, it's one of the least likely places to host a Republican debate.

It's a liberal hotbed, where protesters lined up outside the Coors Event Center before the debate to criticize GOP front-runner Donald Trump and rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

And students are apparently well aware of Christie's view on marijuana.

"His comments make the rounds on Facebook all the time," said student Lowell Michaels. "He's kind of a joke on campus."

Of all the 15 Republicans running for president, Christie has taken one of the hardest stances against legal pot.

He has called the U.S.'s "War on Drugs" a failure, repeatedly saying that the U.S. puts too many nonviolent, small-time drug offenders behind bars and that they should be treated instead.

But the governor, a devout Catholic, calls marijuana a gateway drug that should not be legalized.

Last April, Christie said on his radio show that he's not "going to be the governor who is going to tell our children and our young adults that marijuana use is okay."

He cited a study by the Journal of Neuroscience released last year that concluded even casual marijuana use -- smoking once or twice a week to get high -- can alter the brain.

And then Christie singled out Colorado, suggesting the state's quality of life has suffered in the wake of legal pot.

"Go to Colorado and see if you want to live there," Christie said. "See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado, where there are head shops popping up on every corner, and people flying into your airport just to get high. To me, it's not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey."

Technically, selling marijuana is illegal under federal U.S. laws. But residents in both Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize the sale of marijuana in 2012. Oregon soon followed, and both Alaska and Washington D.C. have made it legal for residents to smoke pot.

Research shows there has been no proof legalization has led to an increase in crime or pot smoking among teenagers.

Colorado has also seen more than $86 million in marijuana taxes and fees in 2005 -- more than taxes and fees from the sale of alcohol, according to a report by the Denver Post.

"The money is going to taxes instead of to criminals," Michaels, the Colorado student, said.

Matthew Reynolds, a Colorado student working toward a postdoctorate degree, said he hasn't "seen any behavioral changes at all."

With the debate approaching Wednesday, the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that advocates for the legal marijuana industry, released a scorecard of where the presidential candidates stand on the issue. Christie received an F.

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who was at the debate Wednesday, brushed aside the New Jersey governor's remarks.

"I don't think the people of Colorado are afraid of Chris Christie," Gardner said. "Colorado is a laboratory of Democracy. That's what we're doing right now. I don't think anybody is concerned about that."

But is opposing pot a wise move for a presidential candidate considering Colorado is a swing state?

"There's a lot more issues that Coloradans are concerned about," Gardner said. "They're concerned about the economy, they're concerned about jobs, they're concerned about the environment. I don't think that's going to be the deterring factor of whether Chris Christie wins the election or wins Colorado."

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.