AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine’s top law enforcement officials said Wednesday federal budget cuts would drain $600,000 a year from state drug-fighting efforts, inviting traffickers into the state and worsening problems of addiction and violence.

Deep cuts would be seen as “a green light” to drug traffickers inclined to bring their trade to Maine, and they would be harder to catch when they come to the state, Attorney General Steven Rowe told the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

“And the results of that will be that more and more Maine citizens will be able to access, abuse and become addicted to illegal drugs. And that will mean increased criminal activity, and it will mean a greater demand on our jails and prisons and on our drug-treatment programs,” Rowe said. “And it will also mean … devastation to individuals, to families, to communities and to our state’s economy.”

Federal grants cover the bulk of the expenses of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, which combines resources of state and local police in combating illegal drugs, Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara said. The MDEA runs five regional task forces based in Augusta, Bangor, Houlton, Lewiston and Portland that serve all 16 of Maine’s counties.

The proposed federal budget would create a shortfall of $600,000 in the MDEA, and current services would be maintained until March 2006, said Cantara. The commissioner said current levels of MDEA enforcement and prosecution require $2.4 million.

State officials have advised Maine’s congressional delegation of the size and possible impact of the federal cuts and asked the members to oppose the reductions.

“The drug problem is national in scope,” said Cantara. “Washington should be a part of the solution.”

Failing a restoration of funding, Cantara said fines for various drug crimes could be increased and redistributed to the state drug-fighting unit, placing the burden of restoring the lost $600,000 on dealers and users.

MDEA Director Roy McKinney said no community in Maine is immune from the drug threat, which has been felt in Hancock and Washington counties where fishermen report drug-related thefts from their boats.

McKinney also pointed to a study showing a 200 percent increase in primary admissions for prescription opiates since 2000. The same study, by Marcella Sorg of the Margaret Chase Center for Public Policy, said there’s been nearly a 150 percent increase in primary admissions for cocaine and crack since 2000.

“Accidental drug overdose deaths are more than double what they were in 2000,” McKinney said. “What might the drug problem look like without a drug-control program?”

Also addressing the committee were local and regional police and prosecutors.

Drug-fighting is only one state program that would face cuts under the federal budget proposal. Gov. John Baldacci has estimated millions of dollars in losses to health, education, heating assistance, homeland security and other programs under.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit Washington-based fiscal research organization, says the cuts would amount to $290 million over five years.

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On the Net:

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: http://www.cbpp.org/

AP-ES-03-02-05 1521EST

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