Police concerned over loss of Drug Enforcement Agent

PARIS — Law enforcement officials in Paris have expressed concern that decreases in funds could interfere with their ability to combat an important local problem.

Zane Loper, an agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) who is stationed in Paris, said at a recent meeting that prescription drug addiction is an issue that is not going away.

According to numbers compiled by the MDEA branch that oversees operations in Andcroscoggin, Franklin and Oxford County, Oxford accounted for 38 percent of all prescription drug-related arrests in the three counties during 2010, despite only accounting for 29 percent of the three counties' total population.

The number of arrests per person in the county nearly doubles the rate in Androscoggin.

Loper was formerly a patrolman with the Paris Police Department, but a federal grant that paid for his salary and benefits has allowed him to function solely as a drug enforcement agent for the last few years.  When the grant expires in November, warned Paris Police Chief David Verrier, budget constraints will force Loper to return to patrolman duties.

Gerry Baril, the MDEA Special Agent in charge of Western Maine, says there is no reason to think that the prescription drug addiction is a problem that will go away soon. He says prescription drugs have replaced crack and cocaine as the most commonly abused substance, second only to marijuana.

"People will abuse what is readily available," said Baril. Whereas private insurance, MaineCare and Medicare will cover the cost of prescriptions, he says, "There's no service available that will pay for your crack or cocaine."

Moving Loper back to patrolman duties will prevent him from taking part in extended investigations to track down drug offenders. Taking him out of the MDEA will leave only one agent in all of Oxford County.

"There's no extra money and everyone is trying to make due with what we have," said Baril. "There's no way one person can do the job of two people."