# Sugary drink tax **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460 "2009-10-03T16:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/21 "2009-10-05T16:01:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve seen commercials against a proposed sugary drink tax. I haven’t paid much attention because I don’t drink a lot of sugary drinks. (I might have a 16 oz. Coca Cola in a week, and a Monster a month. I prefer water, unsweetened iced tea, or coffee.) The commercials feature a young mother who complains that the tax would prevent her from giving her kids sodas and sugar-sweetened juice drinks. > > Do you care one way or the other about the proposed tax? > > (NB: I’m not sure if this is a state thing, or a Federal thing.) I think it could be a good idea … not just speaking as a diabetic but giving kids nutritionally null sugary drinks is not healthy. What the hell ever happened to just drinking water when you are thirsty? I have no problem with a single serving [meaning 8 oz] of juice for breakfast, even though just eating the fruit would be healthier, but as a common beverage for quenching thirst water works just fine. Not to mention is a lot less expensive than a storebought drink. My brother and I grew up getting OJ and coffee at breakfast, milk at lunch and dinner, and any other time was water, or as a rare treat koolaid [usually only if there were a passel of neighborhood kids around] I also remember flat coke or ginger ale when we were sick with stomach problems. Hot tea with lemon and honey for colds. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/22 "2009-10-05T16:06:25Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I’d agree, but this opens up a huge issue–that is, corn subsidies. > > I wonder if soda and other highly-sweetened drinks weren’t so cheap to spew out of fast-food fountains, people would stop drinking it as they do. > > When I see people in 7-11 filling up their personal 48 oz. containers of Coke for breakfast (instead of the traditional cup of coffee with a teaspoon or so of sugar), I just wonder what they eat and drink in _the rest_ of the day. Back when I worked at the ADT call center [mid 90s] one guy who worked there brought in 2 3 liter nondiet cokes and drank them in his 8 hour shift. I went to uni with a woman who drank 3 6 packs of dr pepper a day. I will admit that 3 years ago when I was seriously hypercalcemic and waiting for my parathyroid operation I was combatting serious fatigue [as in sleep 10 hours, get up, go to work and start to nod off] and I would do a 6 pack of red bull a day and still barely manage to stay awake. _that_ ended as soon as I got the operation and my calcium worked its way back into my bones relieving the serious nap attackage. Though I do like a red bull now and then for the flavor, once they go flat. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/23 "2009-10-05T16:13:40Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I also remember flat coke or ginger ale when we were sick with stomach problems. Really, _flat_ coke or ginger ale for stomach problems? We were always given non-flat Vernor’s (a particularly efforvescent brand of ginger ale) for stomach problems. While there’s nothing medically redeeming about soda-pop, I’d always thought that the folk-medicine reason for soft drinks was for the specific purpose of introducing bubbles to the stomach! (FWIW, hot Vernor’s loses much of its gas, but it’s also a delicious way to enjoy it. I don’t mean room temperature; I mean like tea.) ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/24 "2009-10-05T16:31:57Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > It means he’s blaming the wrong thing. Bob’s obesity doesn’t make **Mswas** worse off unless the government decides to force **Mswas** help to pay Bob’s doctors bill against his will. When Obese Bob sits in the next cubicle and we are on the same private employer-sponsored health plan, my premiums go up when Bob consumes more healthcare resources to treat his adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure, gallstones and other obesity-related health problems. My _private insurance_ premiums subsidize his health care. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/25 "2009-10-05T16:48:34Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > They only push up your costs if the government deliberately makes them negative externalities, by forcing everyone to subsidise the other guy’s healthcare. You are using unethical behaviour by the government as an excuse to expand the government’s power. What is the negative externality of tobacco? You already said you don’t have a problem with that sin tax, and the only negative externality there is the health of the user, just like with soda. As far as I’m concerned, **pbbth** nailed it. If you need to budget for healthcare and reduce the consumption of high-calorie soda, stop subsidizing corn farming. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/26 "2009-10-05T16:53:57Z")
Eh, I drink lots of soda and I see it as only fair. If ‘sin’ taxes apply to alcohol and cigarettes then it should be applied to soda too. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/27 "2009-10-05T19:56:41Z")
I have no problem with it. Water is better, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/28 "2009-10-05T20:28:27Z")
Gatorade not only quenches your thirst better, it tastes better, too. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/29 "2009-10-05T20:40:58Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Eh, I drink lots of soda and I see it as only fair. If ‘sin’ taxes apply to alcohol and cigarettes then it should be applied to soda too. Sure. And corn, green beans, potatoes, steaks, ice cream… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/30 "2009-10-05T20:41:58Z")
> [@Juliana](#): > > I have no problem with it. Water is better, anyway. Tax water! What a government bonanza! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/31 "2009-10-05T23:24:27Z")
I’m for it, after watching the commercials the soft drink industry is promoting where they whine that “food” is being taxed. That’s not fucking **food** , it’s a basically nutrition-free sweet beverage. Besides, we already have soda - and bottled water - taxes here in the Chicago area, and I still drink (diet) soda when I need a caffeine fix. Go for it. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/32 "2009-10-05T23:36:45Z")
Of course it’s food. The very first definition of food from [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) is “any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.” The sugar and water in soda are nourishing, even if it does not have anything else going for it then it still meets the definition. Just because you don’t like something does not mean you can redefine words to make them agree with what you think. It _IS_ food and thus the commercial is correct - they are taxing food. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/33 "2009-10-05T23:39:07Z")
I don’t have a problem with it, overall, but that is because I have a wierd little libertarian socialist communalist philosophy that is very self-contradictory. If I thought about it much I would be pissed about it. I don’t care all that much as it stands now. I wouldn’t vote for or against it. I would abstain for that question. I do agree that there should be no corn subsidies. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/34 "2009-10-05T23:41:58Z")
> [@badlyburnttoast](#): > > Just because you don’t like something does not mean you can redefine words to make them agree with what you think. It _IS_ food and thus the commercial is correct - they are taxing food. It’s a really crappy excuse for food, and their panicked wording is misleading in that it sounds like more than their sweet little drinks are being affected. And naturally, they don’t reveal in the commercial who’s behind that ‘public service announcement’ - it sounds like a concerned consumer group or something, being so sad that working mommies and daddies can’t fill the bellies of them and their kids with nutritious calorie-laden drinks. Which, I’ll note, I’ve drunk even with a tax on, as have millions of people in the Chicago area for a long time. Same with no-calorie bottled water, booze, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/35 "2009-10-06T00:13:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Gatorade not only quenches your thirst better, it tastes better, too. If only it were healthy, we’d have a trifecta. Anyway, I’m against a regressive tax that won’t make anyone healthier. Drinking less soda would make people healthier, but I doubt a 3 cent tax is going to do that, especially when water is already so much cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/36 "2009-10-06T02:54:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve seen commercials against a proposed sugary drink tax. I’ve never seen one of these. Anyone got an online video link? ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/37 "2009-10-06T03:47:45Z")
[http://lmgtfy.com/?q=youtube+soft+drink+tax+commercial](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=youtube+soft+drink+tax+commercial) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/38 "2009-10-06T04:22:09Z")
[I think this is the one I was thinking of](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxIwwrO2JYg). ‘They say it’s only pennies. Well, those pennies add up when you’re trying to feed a family.’ ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/39 "2009-10-06T04:59:46Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > When Obese Bob sits in the next cubicle and we are on the same private employer-sponsored health plan, my premiums go up when Bob consumes more healthcare resources to treat his adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure, gallstones and other obesity-related health problems. > > My _private insurance_ premiums subsidize his health care. Why are you in an employer-sponsored health plan, if the price does not reflect the benefit you receive, or the cost of providing that benefit? Is it because you still think it is better than the alternatives, or is it because the government or your employer is restricting your ability to choose how to spend your paycheck? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What is the negative externality of tobacco? You already said you don’t have a problem with that sin tax, and the only negative externality there is the health of the user, just like with soda. What about second-hand smoke inhalation? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460/40 "2009-10-06T11:29:12Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Really, _flat_ coke or ginger ale for stomach problems? We were always given non-flat Vernor’s (a particularly efforvescent brand of ginger ale) for stomach problems. While there’s nothing medically redeeming about soda-pop, I’d always thought that the folk-medicine reason for soft drinks was for the specific purpose of introducing bubbles to the stomach! > > (FWIW, hot Vernor’s loses much of its gas, but it’s also a delicious way to enjoy it. I don’t mean room temperature; I mean like tea.) there are chemicals in cola syrup and ginger extract that help nausea, and flat is the way my parents grew up with it when they were sick, and that is how everybody I knew in wayne, monroe and livingston county NY that I chatted with as a kid. What used to be done is keeping a small bottle of cola syrup in the bathroom, but in the absence of it, flat soda. I have actually found a source of cola syrup here in Connecticut [but the pharmacy has to order it, so we still go with flat. MrAru also was given flat soda, his mom is from Craig MO, and father is from Bloomington CA. Not sure where that fits in the data points. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugary-drink-tax/512460.md?page=3)