Rising sales of tobacco products to underage users could lead to the loss of federal addiction block-grant funds in Massachusetts, local officials warn.

The Norwood Daily News Transcript reported Jan. 25 that cuts in funding for the state's Tobacco Control Program have led to a decline in enforcement and a rise in illegal tobacco sales to minors. As a result, Massachusetts could lose up to $6 million in block-grant funding, which is tied in part to states' maintaining progress in preventing underage access to tobacco.

"We'd like to stay on top of (tobacco sales to minors), but with the funding it's difficult," said Dedham, Mass., health director Catherine Cardinale. In towns like Milford, monthly compliance checks were conducted prior to the budget cuts in 2002; now, many communities only check once a year to determine if local vendors are selling cigarettes to kids. In 2005 and 2006, underage youth in the towns of Dedham, Bellingham and Milford were able to successfully buy tobacco products about half the times they tried, state data showed.

"It's time to restore the trust, reinvest in tobacco prevention and cessation and protect our kids," Diane Pickles, executive director of Framingham-based Tobacco Free Mass Coalition, told state legislators this week.

Massachusetts collects more than $700 million each year from the nationwide tobacco settlement, but spends less than 2 percent of the money on tobacco prevention, according to Tobacco Free Mass.

Advocates want to increase funding for the Tobacco Control Program from $15 million to $35 million.