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Is a Soda Tax Part of the Answer?
Do you remember when the tax on cigarettes hit the streets many years ago? No one in my family smokes so I don’t even know how much has been tacked on – I only know the taxes by and large have jacked up the price per pack over the years to become shockingly high. Has this government act contributed to cutting the amount of smokers in the U.S. in half since the 1960′s? Currently 1 out of every 5 Americans smoke. My guess is that it contributed, but I would also guess that the negative social stigma of smoking and the awareness of HUGE damage to your health, and public banning of smoking from airplanes and restaurants have helped as well. Smoking has become increasingly inconvenient.
The addiction to smoking cigarettes, however, seems to be one of the strongest and hardest to beat. I have witnessed people (good people) in my lifetime try everything possible to quit and they still end up smoking again. I have seen people suffering in the hospital directly due to their smoking and still smoke cigarettes even if it meant smoking from a hole that had been put in their throat so they could breathe. Addiction doesn’t begin to describe the hold that cigarettes have had on people through this century. I’m not going to mention any names but the smoking addiction continues to challenge even exceptionally successful people.
Okay, I’m not a smoking cessation expert, but I only bring this up as something we should look back on as part of the discussion on a possible soda tax. At the same time smoking has become more and more inconvenient, eating fast food and junk food has become more convenient. I’ve heard some obesity experts supporting the idea of a tax on soda. For example, if a 2-liter bottle of soda would normally cost $1.50, it would now cost $1.77 if there were an 18 percent consumer tax. If you spend about 15 dollars a week on soda, this would add up to about $140 dollars in soda tax per year. I can only imagine that diet soda would be exempt from a soda tax since it technically doesn’t contribute calories (although some would argue that it still encourages overeating). Some would say this isn’t that much, but this is on top of all of the other taxes many of us are already paying. It might be different in your area, but I realized the other day while studying my Comcast bill that they are tacking on about 27 dollars in various and sundry taxes each month. That’s another $324 a year!
And why stop there… the natural sequel to a soda tax would be a junk food tax (which I like to call the Twinkie Tax). And then who decides what qualifies as “junk food”? Is it only a matter of time before “they” come after some of the foods you have freely bought and enjoyed over the years? I don’t know the answer here. I only know that many Americans hold personal liberty and the pursuit of happiness in highest regard and any consumer tax when there is already income tax (at the federal and state level in my case) can, in my opinion, quickly become a slippery slope.
We do need to look at what it is costing us to continue to treat and battle obesity in this country because the baby boomer bubble hasn’t even fully burst yet. We do know that the billion dollar dieting industry hasn’t solved the problem and some would argue has contributed to it. We do know that what has become the typical American lifestyle (which generally doesn’t include regular exercise) is working against us at every turn.
Now is your chance to weigh in a a soda tax…what about a junk food tax? Tell me what you think about it.
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