WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Justice Department has provided federal prosecutors "clarification and guidance" urging them to go after drug traffickers, but not patients and caregivers, in the 14 states that have medical marijuana laws.

A memo sent to U.S. attorneys said that in carrying out Justice pronouncements made earlier this year indicating a policy shift to end prosecutions against users, authorities should continue to pursue drug traffickers.

"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "But we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Holder added.

The memo from Deputy Attorney General David Ogden was sent to U.S. attorneys in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The issue is particularly significant in California, where there has been uncertainty about the government's approach to raiding marijuana dispensaries, which are increasing and thriving.

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When you think of the war on drugs you often think of cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. But coastal Maine?

You may be surprised to hear in a tiny area of New England, heroin has become a massive problem; too big to contain.

"It's very available out here. It's scary," says recovering drug addict Leeanne Lariviere.

Thousands of miles from the drug cartels of Mexico – Kittery, Maine in bucolic New England is a new Mecca for heroin use.

Detective Steve Hamel of the Kittery Police Department has been working narcotics for two decades. He says he's seen it all, but never this.

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Andrew T. Wainwright is a national expert on addictions and intervention. He is co-author of the book "It’s Not Okay to Be a Cannibal – How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive" and CEO for AiR, which provides behavioral health case management services that are a beneficial addition to the treatment of chemical dependency, mental health and eating disorders.

From my desk on the front lines of addiction treatment, the view is staggering. Prescription drugs are prevalent, proliferating and have introduced a new generation to the wonderful world of drug addiction.

These are people who otherwise might never have experienced addiction. The previous barriers to entry of stigma and circumstance were too high. Dangerous neighborhoods and unsavory characters, untrustworthy chemicals to be taken in unspecific amounts and the fear of becoming addicted kept most amateurs on the sidelines. But in 1996 that all changed.

In January of 1996, Purdue Pharma, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, launched the marketing campaign for their new pain relief product OxyContin. OxyContin was supposed to be nonabusable thanks to a special time-release ingredient. Unfortunately, this proved not to be true.

This might not have been such a big deal had Purdue not launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, targeting both doctors and consumers alike. This campaign had a two-pronged approach. First Purdue incented doctors to prescribe their products then they encouraged consumers to request them by promising legitimacy, safety and lack of consequences.

From a purely business standpoint it was the right thing to do – if you can drive demand you can sell more product. From a “What are the long term effects on our society?” standpoint – it was devastating.

Today, three percent of our population is abusing prescription drugs. Prescription drug abuse accounts for forty percent of all treatment center admissions. Prescription drug abuse is growing fastest among teenagers and young adults.

These are the worst stats we could hope for.

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The state of Arizona is finding itself on the front line of the war against Mexican drug cartels. Their attorney general will meet this week with leaders of other southwestern states to try to stop the flow of drugs across the border with Mexico. To do that, they say they will have to stop the flow of cash as well, including a new way smugglers are trying to get past the cash-sniffing dogs.

Lawmakers say gift card technology is now making it easier for drug lords to move cash across the border undetected. These 'stored value instruments' are often issued by offshore banks and allow large sums of money to be moved throughout the world. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday.

Kiran Chetry: Walk us through these gift cards. How have they become so useful to the drug cartels?

Terry Goddard: This isn't your Starbucks or Best Buy gift cards. What we're talking about here are stored value instruments, which have chips in them…that basically can store fairly large amounts of cash. The total amount is undetermined; it depends on who the depositing bank or financial institution is. As a result, since they're not considered monetary instruments, they can be taken across the border and you don't break any laws. It is a huge loophole in our financial crimes observations.

Chetry: So you're talking about gift cards, these blank cards that can be preloaded with large amounts of cash. How do they cash it in once they get across the border?

Goddard: These basically are your passport for cash. They are your way of getting into a financial institution. If you're buying coffee with them, obviously your return is not that big. But if you've got a participating financial institution, say in the Cayman Islands or in Central America, then all you have to do is go to a group that corresponds with that financial institution, present your card and take out your cash. So there's nothing at the border that you have to display. Under U.S. law, these cards, however much they may be worth are not considered financial instruments. Therefore, the border patrol, customs agents when they see them there is no violation because they're not part of the money that you're required to declare. And they can't read them, which is a big problem. Basically we need to have transparency so that if a law enforcement agency looks at one of these cards, he or she knows how much it is worth.

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By Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) - The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday.

Scientists working for the government predict that potency, as measured by the drug's concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, will continue to rise.

At the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, where thousands of samples of seized marijuana are tested every year, project director Mahmoud ElSohly said some samples have THC levels exceeding 30 percent.

Average THC concentrations will continue to climb before leveling off at 15 percent or 16 percent in five to 10 years, ElSohly predicted.

The stronger marijuana is of particular concern because high concentrations of THC have the opposite effect of low concentrations, officials say.

In addition, while experienced marijuana users may limit their intake of potent marijuana, young and inexperienced users may not moderate their intake and possibly suffer from dysphoria, paranoia, irritability and other negative effects.

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Mexico drug trafficking, cartels and killings. All driven by America’s addiction to drugs. How did it get this bad? All this week we are reporting on America's drug addiction in our special series "Drug Nation."

So, what do you think? Should the United States legalize drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin? Vote now!

And don't miss:

• Commentary: Legalize drugs
• Drug legalization: “A great idea whose time has not come”
• Heroin cheaper than six-pack of beer

By Asa Hutchinson
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Asa Hutchinson is former Director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and served as the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

When it comes to the debate on legalization of marijuana, we can all have confidence in the greatness of our democracy. Ultimately the voters decide the direction of our country. Thus far there is no evidence that the public is in any mood to legalize marijuana or other currently illegal drugs.

In Arkansas, a few years back, a statewide ballot initiative could not even get on the ballot because the proponents could not garner enough signatures. Nationwide, recent ballot initiatives have focused on medical marijuana or enforcement policy.

The advocates of legalization are trying to chip away on the fringes of the legalization debate but they know there is not a sufficient popular movement for legalization. Parents are in no mood to make another harmful drug more accessible and socially acceptable for the youth.

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President Obama makes his first trip to Mexico today as drug violence continues to plague the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be with the president on his visit. She joined Kiran Chetry on CNN’s American Morning Thursday.

Kiran Chetry: We heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said America's insatiable demand for drugs is in part fueling the drug wars. Do you think we're partly to blame for the violence we've been seeing along the border?

Janet Napolitano: Well, there certainly is a relationship. You can't deny it. These are huge drug cartels that have developed over time. They're very violent. Witness the fact that there were over 6,000 homicides in northern Mexico last year including 550 that were assassinations of law enforcement or public officials in Mexico. What we're working to do, is to work to stop the flow of guns and cash in to Mexico that are helping fuel these cartels. But also, we're working at the border to make sure that the spillover violence doesn't occur in our own cities and communities.

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