On November 7, Jackson County, Missouri voters overwhelmingly agreed to continue levying a controversial and unique sales tax to pay for anti-drug programs.
Critics point out that there has been no independent evaluation of the tax.
Management of revenue from the tax has also been attacked. All of the members of the allocation committee work for organizations that benefit from the tax, creating what some see as a conflict of interest. Critics also say that many people who were hired with the drug funds are relatives of tax fund administrators and politicians. The November 7 vote renewed the tax for another seven years starting in 1997. Supporters of the tax point to rising drug arrests as a sign of the tax's helpfulness to law enforcement.