Dangers Of Soda Taxation Essay

The Dangers of Soda Taxation and its Impact on Society According to the CDC, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases related to the condition, is the leading cause of death for Americans. Public health officials have tried, and largely failed, to combat this epidemic. These efforts have for the most part included campaigns to increase the awareness of the importance of healthy living with wholesome diet and exercise. Further, the government has instituted subsidies to assist with the crisis. A statistic from National Center for Weight & Wellness at George Washington University estimates that $305.1 billion a year is spent on costs associated with obesity. (Ehley & Planin 2014) A new way of combating obesity is to institute a tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) to reduce the amount …show more content…
(Brownell & Friedan 2009) As expected, the increase in tax would decrease consumption; it is basic economics. However, the introduction of such a tax brings up an ethical dilemma. Is it ethically sound to place a tax on a product which would place an economic burden on lower income households? In order to have a worthwhile effect on the obesity crisis, the tax on soda would need to be astronomical and unrealistic. Increasing the taxes on soda not only places an unnecessary burden on consumers but on soda companies that are being targeted. Nancy Kass developed a list of six criteria for determining whether a public health intervention is ethical. The list has become such an authority in the subject that the criteria are now being used by public health officials to decide if the program should proceed. For the purpose of brevity, this paper focuses on the more important criteria for this issue. While the other criteria are indirectly mentioned, it will not debate whether or not this falls under the category of a public health