Tax dollars are paying for discount Viceroy cigarettes in Missouri. A Schnucks checker contacted News 4 after selling a pack of cigarettes to a customer who paid with EBT cash. The purchase was only six dollars and three cents, but James Mason says, "that's upsetting to me. It's taxpayer money and we are buying cigarettes for people on EBT."
Cigarette and alcohol transactions are blocked when a customer tries to pay with food stamps, but the transactions are not blocked when the customer pays with EBT cash. EBT cash comes from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (T.A.N.F) program. In Missouri TANF payments totaled $119,458,224 this fiscal year. In Illinois TANF payments totaled $148,653,866 during the same time period. The money is loaded on the same cards that are used to for food stamps.
