<p>You are a better woman than I :-). </p>
<p>There are a lot of foods in restaurants and cafeterias that have more sugar than sodas: smashed potato, baked potato, potato salad, spaghetti, cookies, cakes, cakes with thick icy decoration,…</p>
<p>Artificial sweeteners come with their own problems, especially when consumed in volume. I personally see nothing inherently wrong with plain sugar–only the quantities people choose to consume. Why should drinks be consumed in 32 and 64 ounce sizes? Do folks really need that much of any beverage at one time? Why are so many things becoming super sized? That’s the much larger issue!</p>
<p>I have my vices, PG. Vanity, for one</p>
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I oppose cigarette taxes. I support a tax system that collects money to serve the public.</p>
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<p>Well, I hope that the dollars collected are going towards the costs associated with smoking.</p>
<p>^ Why don’t we just ban cigarette sale? It’s a hypocrisy, isn’t it?</p>
<p>I have to agree that I find the fact that we still sell cigarettes to be rather odd. But, then, we still sell motorcycles and let bicyclists ride in the road. I mean, there’s only so much we will put up with from the government, though it does seem to be an every expanding circle of laws and rules.</p>
<p>I like taxes that are voluntary and go toward a purpose related to the tax. </p>
<p>Singling out sugary sodas may just be the low hanging fruit. Why not fat or sugar laden snack foods? It’s better to target a tax to modify ‘bad’ behavior and put that money towards the eventual obesity related health needs than to impose a general tax on everyone to pay for the ‘bad’ behavior. </p>
<p>If that causes low income people to stop drinking sugary sodas, isn’t that the point?</p>
<p>if ciggies could be banned w/o creating some untaxed black market, that would be fine with me. But, I think the industry is too big and the black market would expand if cigarettes were banned.</p>
<p>My thinking is that the slow increase of taxes on packs has been to decrease sales so that the industry will die out…rather than shutting it down abruptly and having a bunch of unintended negative consequences…thousands out of work, black market, etc.</p>
<p>Reminds me of a story I heard from a doctor who volunteers at a free clinic. The doc sees a man who smokes three packs a day. What is a pack now. $5? But the man complains he can’t afford visits to the doctor. Duh! </p>
<p>The unpleasant taste of sweeteners is subjective. Some seem to prefer it over the natural thing. I happen to find the diet drinks nasty and highly recognizable. Fwiw, Coke does not taste the same everywhere as different sugars are used. Cane sugar in Mexico tastes differently from beet sugar in Europe or corn syrup. Try a crisp Sprite around the world and you might pick up the difference. </p>
<p>Marketing is what drives consumption. For instance, Jarritos is one of the cheapest soft drinks in Mexico but sold as a high-end gourmet drink abroad with its glass bottles. Interestingly, the made in Mexico product is actually considered a US product as it is bottled in an in-bond plant. </p>
<p>Jarritos in glass bottles does taste better than in ultra cheap plastic bottles used in Mexico. Its success in the US is pure marketing genius. </p>