From the San Francisco Chronicle:
A new UCLA study examined sugary drinks and their effect on state spending and consumers' health.
$41 billion - Amount spent treating obesity in California each year.
41 percent - Kids ages 2-11 who drink at least one soda every day.
62 percent - Adolescents 12-17 who drink at least one soda every day.
39 pounds - Amount of sugar consumed over one year if you drink one soda a day.
17 teaspoons - Amount of sugar in a 20-ounce serving of soda.
278 calories - Increased number Americans consume each day compared with 30 years ago.
43 percent - Share of new calories attributable to soda.
Source: "Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California" by UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy
The full article states that they are considering taxing Soda (pop to you Washingtonians) in San Francisco to help pay for an exercise program and a media campaign to discourage soda drinking. The tax would be levied on stores that sell soda, not on the individual sale of soda itself.
Now, as a Dr. Pepper / Pepsi addict, I actually don't think this is a horrible thing. We tax cigarrettes and alchohol very heavily, largely to discourage their use. Would it have any real effect? I'm not sure. I think you'd have to actually tax the sale of individual drinks to get anyone's attention, or to see any affects.
Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia apparently already have a similar tax.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that adding a tax of three cents per 12-ounce serving to sweetened drinks would generate $24 billion over the next four years.
