Tax on soda in Jax?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

]

Nanny state? I think not. Trying to reduce the cost borne by the taxpayer through treating unhealthy people isn't the "nanny state" at work - it's actually the sort of things Republicans and Libertarians and the like would totally agree with if it were anything else.

Libertarians wanting to infringe on personal choice?   

[Adam White]

]

Nanny state? I think not. Trying to reduce the cost borne by the taxpayer through treating unhealthy people isn't the "nanny state" at work - it's actually the sort of things Republicans and Libertarians and the like would totally agree with if it were anything else.

Libertarians wanting to infringe on personal choice?

Libertarians arguing for reduced costs. As far as infringing on personal choice is concerned, Libertarians have no problem with that, as long as it is being done by a corporation or a wealthy individual and not the government.

[remc86007]

I have an idea. Make it a 1 cent tax rather than the 12 cent they talk about. Using the study's calculation, that would generate over $3 million a year for the city. Use all three million dollars every year to acquire land for and operate urban gardens and co-op organic grocery stores in the food deserts in the city.

Better yet, tax something that will have less regressive effects by the imposition of tax.

[aldermanparklover]

Why not impose a death sentence if someone drinks a sugary beverage? If the ultimate point is to get people to stop drinking them because it's better for society overall, let's have a penalty which will get us positive results much faster than a tax ... SMH

Here's a weird idea, why don't we have a country that doesn't make legal decisions about the lifetime expense of my lifestyle choices? I am a citizen, not a financial product - I don't want to be regarded by my county as an economic consideration. 

[finehoe]

Does this hold for income and corporate?

Only on the margins.

[finehoe]

It does appear to work:

Researchers followed residents of several low-income communities in Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland around the time that Berkeley voters passed the country's first big soda tax in 2014. The study found that, in the four months after the tax took effect last year, consumption of sugary drinks fell by 21 percent in the Berkeley neighborhoods, but rose by 4 percent in the other two cities.

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303362