Facing a growing obesity epidemic, some lawmakers have sought ways to promote healthier lifestyles. One such initiative is a so-called “sin” tax on unhealthy drinks, specifically sodas. A number of cities and states have considered or passed similar legislation. Although the opposition may claim that taxes is not the right way to decrease the consumption of sugary drinks, the reality is that we should impose soda taxes because it will improve the health of consumers and thus, decrease medical costs while also benefitting the economy at the same time. The main positive effect of taxing drinks like sodas is that it will help people to have better lifestyles and overall health, which would later decrease the money that is being spent on medical …show more content…
They say that unlike cigarettes, these drinks are not addictive and “people can and do, choose” to drink sodas or “to stop drinking them entirely” and that by using calorie counts, consumers will realize that “a 20-ounce Coke has 240 calories”, for example, and “they might re-think that drink” (USA Today). However, this is simply not going to work because doing nothing but providing information will not change anything. Wilkinson’s political cartoon shows an obese man telling Uncle Sam, the man who symbolizes America, that he “get[s] to make my[his] own choices” as he drinks his soda, following by Uncle Sam looking at the health bill delineating medical conditions such as diabetes or strokes, saying “I get to pay for them”. This cartoon supports the fact that letting people drink sodas as they please without anything, not even a tax, stopping them, just like in most parts of the US at the moment, will only continue to be the one preventable bill that America has to waste millions of dollars on because of the medical repercussions soda consumption