On Tuesday, the School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri hosted a presentation about the economic benefits of tobacco taxes.

"The price increase is going to lead adult smokers to try to quit smoking. It's going to keep kids from taking up smoking," said Professor Frank Chaloupka of the University of Illinois-Chicago. "If the revenues do get allocated to this sort of comprehensive program that they're talking about, that's going to lead to further reductions in smoking."

Local tobacco shop owners said the proposed amendment could force them to close and they also suspect the state won't use the extra tax money properly.