The low-profile statewide ballot measure that arrives in mailboxes this week is focused on a familiar political debate about what constitutes a tax hike — an argument that is causing friction among conservatives.

A majority of tickets for driving under the influence in Colorado involved marijuana in 2014, according to new law enforcement statistics released in September.

The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area is a collection of federal, state and local law enforcement in four states. Colorado is the only one with legal recreational marijuana, so a new report from the agencies focus on its impact on the state.

In Denver, impaired driving tickets involving marijuana doubled from 33 to 66 in one year. The Colorado State Patrol reported that 77 percent of its cases involved marijuana.

However, only 41 percent -- 354 out of 874 of all impaired drivers tested positive for marijuana alone.

Brennan Linsley/AP

In a national health survey, 10% of high schoolers reported smoking marijuana at least once in the last 30 days.

High schoolers now report using marijuana more than cigarettes or cigars, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Oct. 15. 

In 1997, 21% of high schoolers said they had smoked a cigarette or cigar on one or more days in the last 30 days. By 2013 (the newest data available), only 7% said they had, representing a remarkable 64% decrease. 

The marijuana industry may be booming in Colorado, but pot entrepreneurs face a very big problem: pesticides.

Two marijuana users, including a cancer patient, filed a lawsuit last week against a pot business that they claimed used an unhealthy pesticide to grow its weed. The pesticide in question is Eagle 20 EW, a fungicide often used on grapes and hops.

The chemicals, used to stave off mites, mildew and other pests, could also be harmful to humans when used on a product that is later burned for inhalation. Eagle 20, in particular, contains a chemical called myclobutanil that produces toxic hydrogen cyanide gas when burned.

The legalization of recreational marijuana in Denver, Colorado three years ago has brought economic growth in the area as cannabis industry raked in $700 million from last year's sale and $94 million from tax revenue in expected to be collected in 2016. However, as the cannabis industry flourishes, the local housing industry starts to perish.

Marijuana entrepreneurs saw their hopes go up in smoke Tuesday, as the Colorado Springs City Council voted for six-month moratoriums after hearing hours of testimony.

The final vote on a timeout for cannabis clubs was 7-2, with Councilors Bill Murray and Helen Collins dissenting.

But a preliminary vote on medical marijuana businesses split the council 5-4, with Murray and Collins joined by Councilman Tom Strand and President Pro Tem Jill Gaebler in the minority.

The difference between the two categories was underscored when the council, at Councilman Keith King's behest, amended the medical marijuana moratorium to ensure that it will not exceed six months.

Marijuana sales blazed past the $100 million mark for the first time in August, the Denver Post reported over the weekend.

According to sales data from Colorado’s Department of Revenue released Friday, sales of recreational pot topped $59.2 million for the month, while medical marijuana dispensaries pulled in $41.4 million, for a combined $100.6 million — the highest monthly total since legal recreational cannabis sales began there in January 2014.

The car drew remarkably little attention in a city of legalized marijuana.

No crowd surrounded it. Passersby didn’t pause to look it over. Probably that’s because it looks just like a Mazda Miata convertible — except for the side panel poster of George Washington smoking a joint.

Indeed, the chassis of this unique automobile prototype was taken from a Miata. But the body is pure hemp, whose fibers have been woven, put in a mold, hardened with resin and covered with paint.

Its promoters call the bright red result the greenest car in the world.

The body is an agricultural product. The engine can run on biobutanol, a fuel made of agricultural scraps that smells like a blend of garbage, wood chips and alcohol.

Owners of 245 dispensaries around the state reported combined first week retails sales were around $11 million. That's a ton of green for Oregon's legalized weed. 

First week sales more than double what Colorado's first week sales were.

Oregon is the fourth state to allow recreational marijuana sales to adults over 21 years old. Tax revenue doesn't even kick in for the state until some time in January, but it has state officials thinking their estimates were way too low.