California State University East Bay

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California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

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Enact an Effective Soda Tax in California

Many CSUEB students drink soda and would be
affected by a soda tax.

Despite an overall aversion to taxes, today’s society has few qualms dealing with the taxes imposed upon certain harmful substances, such as cigarettes, or in fact most taxes that effectively benefit people.

As we fight the latest epidemic, however, states across the country are unable to make greater leeway and provide more for the health of its people.

In a time when roughly 35 percent of adult Americans suffered from obesity in 2010, according to a report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), several attempts to enact a strong tax on soda and sweets have failed, despite its effectiveness in creating a healthy nation.

Obesity is a strong health issue today and our economy is in dire need of support, thus action must be taken on several fronts in order to protect the health of our citizens.

There are several reasons for the lack of an effective tax, including the aforementioned aversion to taxes and strong lobbying efforts from beverage corporations, though California cannot afford to act when it can gain significant health and economic benefits from such a tax.

According to a Field Poll released early April, nearly three out of five California voters would support a special fee on soft drinks to fight obesity, though the poll didn’t specify how much the tax might be.

Even when states do successfully pass a strong soda tax — such as Colorado in 2010 — they have done so in order to close the budget gap, to go from the red into the green.

In other words, these efforts have not been driven by an effort to make American citizens healthier.

I’m not advocating that the country nor the state or local governments make a host of decisions that are not economically grounded; what doesn’t make economic sense can hardly ever be supported. However, I challenge our government that in this case, two birds can be killed with one stone.

A study on the health and economic benefits of taxing soda, headed by Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, has shown the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to risks for obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

It suggests taxing would help reduce the intake of these beverages as well generate revenue to lower health care costs, an initiative many can appreciate.

A tax of just one penny per ounce of sugar not only would reduce consumption of sugared beverages by more than 10 percent—thereby winning a huge battle in the obesity war—but could generate $150 billion in the next 10 years, according to Brownwell.

While currently 33 states have a tax sod in place, a stronger tax is needed to make any significant health or economic effect.

If California were to enact a stronger tax and devote the revenue to supporting its health care programs, we would thus be a stronger state. California politicians must capitalize upon the support of their constituents and make California a more economically secure, more healthful state if it wants to be more economically secure.

We can all agree that obesity is an epidemic among Americans that we can proactively fight against through several fronts. We as citizens, then, should take a stronger stance and urge our representatives to initiate an effective soda tax.

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California State University East Bay
Enact an Effective Soda Tax in California