Voters distrust state's spending

To the editor:The story in Saturday's paper about the tobacco study was a prime example of why the statewide tobacco tax failed to pass last month. Missouri receives annual payments of $140 million to $160 million from the Big Tobacco settlement, yet this study is only being conducted because $1.4 million is being given to the state Department of Health and Senior Services by the Missouri Foundation for Health, a public-benefit not-for-profit corporation.

Our state is not willing to spend even 1 percent of the money it receives annually from the tobacco industry to perform this study.

Missouri is more addicted to tobacco money than smokers are addicted to nicotine. I don't trust the state to spend tax money as promised, and apparently a majority of voters agree.

JEFF POOLE, Jackson