Calm down people.Clearly the people against this don't drink soda. I am a perfectly healthy non-obese American. If I lived in a place where this passed I'd pay probably an extra $75-$150 a year all in the name of public health. I love my Dr. Pepper and don't want to pay 57.6% more (my math was out as the 2nd poster noted) to enjoy a 12 pack.Forget about singling out one beverage over another. The amount of this tax is astronomical compared to what we tax other products.Non-soda but beer drinkers, do you want to start paying 57.6% more for your beer? Almost anything in excess when consumed is not healthy for you. Yet this tax is 6 or 12 times the tax on beer in most states.1) Yes there is a huge obesity problem in America. 2) I didn't even discuss the constitutionally of the law. I just said I'm against it and hope people vote it down.3) A few people have said that sugar contributes to obesity in America. I agree. Yet this isn't a sugar tax, it's a sweetened beverage tax. It is singling out one form of sugar over another.Consuming too many calories contributes to obesity. This does nothing to go after that. You have an Honest Tea and you'll pay an extra tax for it. You have a bacon wrapped steak (i have no idea if that is unhealthy or not, I'm assuming so) with a pint of Ben and Jerry's after and you'll have no tax.5)
That study states the obvious: "Studies in children and adults have found that reducing sugary drink consumption can lead to better weight control among those who are initially overweight"
No sh**.
Overweight children who consume less calories will have better weight control is essentially what they are saying. Shocking news.
If the problem is marketing the drinks to children, then there are ways to stop that.
6.
You prove my point exactly. What country do you live in? The French are very thin compared to Americans. They do not have a soda tax. The Brits don't have a soda tax. Americans need to exercise more and consume less calories. Soda and Gatorade and Honest Tea is a small part of it.
7. One poster has said the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks is bad for you. Is that really the case? Yet they get no tax. I always have avoided diet drinks who knows maybe that is because I remember the days then they put Saccharin in diet drinks, and then everyone thought that caused cancer, I think now the science says it doesn't.
8. I'm against subsidies for HFCS. Yet even if pure cane sugar is in the drinks they get taxed.
9. Should the government ban Xbox and TV for children as well? Maybe the government can require children to play on sports teams. That would go a long way in reducing the amount of child hood obesity.
10.
The vitriol in some of the responses shows I think this really is not about obesity for many but about penalizing others who aren't as "virtuous" as yourself.
I want to enjoy my life. I want to have a beer or two at night and a Dr. Pepper or two during the day without paying 50%+ more to do it. If I die earlier because of it, so be it.
11.
Fruit juices are excluded. Guess they are considered healthy for you.
12. Anyone know how they will do the tax on fountain sodas? A ton of those are ice anyway. And if I get a 99 cent big gulp I can get a Diet Dr. Pepper or Dr. Pepper for the same price. Will the cashier ask me which drink I got and charge me more?