UCSF scientists call for taxing and regulating sugar

i'm sure this won't be too popular but one question i have is if it is so crazy to tax and regulate sugar, why is it ok to tax and regulate the shit out of tobacco?

Using taxes to alter human behaviour goes against everything i believe in, hell people don't even understand what taxes are or why whe have them, however, since we do it already with so many other items, and will continue, i think we should tax sugar up a couple thousand percent, at least attempt to raise the price 10 fold, as it is the single most expensive substance that people ingest that strains all these bullshit "social safety nets" especially so called Healthcare

Hard to argue against the regulation and taxation of sugar when we already do it with tobacco, both are pretty bad for you especially over time.

Keep supporting Washingtons REGULATIONS.  Your best interest is their TOP priority!! Do me a favor punch yourself in the face. Thanks! 

i don't think anyone in this thread would disagree with what i think your point is, but it doesn't answer the question.  can you answer it?

i like my kool-aid just the way it is damnit!!!

Taxing and regulating sugar would be stupid, the cost would only be passed on to the consumer.

It is pretty messed up that theres sugar in corn flakes and shit, and a bottle of coke now has like 60+ grams of sugar where as when i was growing up it was like 20-30

Tax chocolate, chips, dip and fast food @ 10%. Legalize weed and tax it according to strength. The deficit would be paid off in 3-5 years.

lies, they'd spend all the revenues on more bull shit.

Taxing and regulating sugar would be stupid, the cost would only be passed on to the consumer.

but wouldn't that reduce consumption, which is the point?

is the tax on butter in denmark working in this regard??

See there is no cut and dry thing that it would reduce consumption, if business or whatever are taxed more on it and they pass the cost onto us we are just paying for the same product just more for the product. I mean you have to think rationally here, which is something these people are not doing.

You are asking a bunch of people to give up things they love in an effort to better their health and to do that you are gonna tax the said product. A. the business like any business will just pass the cost along to us it's what all industries that are taxed do, gas, tobacco, you name it, if its taxed the tax is passed along to us.
Simply passing a tax along to the consumer does not reduce the chances one will avoid said product, especially when there is no hard evidence to indicate that sugar is as horrible for you as nicotine or something like that.

Are you really gonna stop drinking coke if it goes from 1.25 to 1.50 for a bottle. Are you gonna stop eating frosted flakes or frosted mini wheats if they raise the price 50 cents to a dollar. I very much doubt it. You can't get people to change by taxing something or making it illegal, people will always still do what they want to do.

People still smoke, people still do drugs, people still gamble. No matter what the obstacle or added cost people will always find a way or just give in to paying the extra cost.

not everyone stops but some people might and that is good.  cigarettes have become pretty expensive.  have some people stopped smoking as a result?  outside of that, assuming the taxes go to pay for the healthcare problems caused by sugar, then at least there is some correlation between the tax and the problem. 

i'm not too familiar with nicotine but my guess is sugar, as it's consumed here, is worse. 

Try portion control. Fat fucks! It has the same metabolic effect as natural fruit juice!! Why are people so fucking naive!! The govt just wants to raise revenue. Pull your heads out of your asses ,the reason 

yeah, but people don't and they won't.  everyone understands cocaine is bad because they hear the len bias story and see the immediate effects of it.  eating a shitload of sugar everyday take time to really affect people.  what's worse, eating fruit loops and lowfat yogurt and drinking soft drinks every day or eating healthy and doing a few lines every weekend? 

anyway, i agree.  the tax is a bad idea, but there is an argument for it, especially if you think taxing and regulating cigarettes is ok. 

There is no hard evidence that states that sugar is the cause, you are lumping a bunch of fat lazy people who never exercise in correlation with a product, i could do that with anything and make it deadly, it doesn't make it right. So those of us in good health who like to indulge should pay more because of fat lazy fucks who eat the whole box of cookies and the only exercise they do is beating off? Yea that seems fair to me.

Oh you mean like how the taxes on tobacco are used for good causes, give me a break, just more money for the gov't to squander.

Also people quit smoking because there is hard evidence that says it is extremely bad for you, not soley because the cost is too high. It is often one of the factors, but the main factor is they eventually wake up and realize they need to stop because it's slowly killing them.

 It's all wash, rinse, and repeat.

Right people don't get the big picture, the gov't doesn't need more money, they need to spend more efficiently, maybe if they all took a cut in salary they could get shit done, but noooo they'll never do that, there incredibly ridiculous salary to do nothing but argue for 8 hours on c span about how something should or shouldn't get changed is completely valid.

They don't care about improving the economy, or the crumbling 50+ year old infrastructure system we have, they care about lining their pockets via contributions and working for 5 hours a day then going home beating their wife, fucking hookers and doing lines of coke.

I mean for fucks sake a politician got a guy arrested for trying to videotape them talking about fracking. Seriously you can get arrested for videotaping what should be a public event. FANTASTIC!!!

you answered the question.  you don't believe in taxing and regulating cigarettes and you don't believe in taxing and regulating sugar.  i'm not going to argue with that.

i do think there is hard evidence that sugar largely causes a variety of very expensive diseases and conditions.  of course, people can cite the person who eats twinkies 3 times a day and smokes 5 pakcs a day and lives to 100 and there is the person who eats no sugar, exercises everyday and drops dead at 50.  there are always exceptions in science/medicine.  but for most of us, and depending on your consumption, sugar is a serious problem. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/will-a-fat-tax-make-denmark-healthier/2011/10/04/gIQA3D5nKL_blog.html

So those of us in good health who like to indulge should pay more because of fat lazy fucks who eat the whole box of cookies and the only exercise they do is beating off? Yea that seems fair to me.

however, you do realize that is exactly what is happening in the current system.  the healthy pay the majority of the health care expenses caused by the unhealthy. 

See i'm not convinced though that sugar is the problem, sugar is a scapegoat to people not doing the right thing. These scientists can say whatever they want but they have no proof. I see tons of proof everyday. There is nothing wrong with having sugar in your diet every day. Its the combination of things like too much sugar, an overt amount of fattening food like fast food, not exercising and high stress that cause the majority of most health problem. Why should i have to pay more because my neighbor doesn't wanna take care of themselves?

Also nowhere did i say that i was against the taxing and regulation of tobacco there have been many many many studies that show its adverse health effects, and they show it with just tobacco use. Therefor by regulating and taxing the product they have dropped tobacco usage over 4%. Tobacco alone causing many health problems even when consumed moderately.

Sugar on the other hand has to have a combination of things happen to give someone health problems. By taxing and regulating it you are basically telling people who do everything right that they have to pay for fat lazy peoples mistakes. Which is BS.

eliminator, you and i have a very different idea of what food does.  i've read a lot that says sugar is a big problem.  sure, it's all relative and if you just have a little, it will likely not noticeably affect you.  but sugar is everywhere and you have to make en effort to just have a little.  anyway, we certainly disagree on that.  and if what i've read is right and sugar is as at least in the same category as nicotine (i think it's better or worse depending on quantities, worse in many cases), then there is certainly an argument that regulating and taxing sugar is as reasonable if not moreso than regulating and taxing sugar.

you also cite to these causes:

not exercising - agreed but exercising is less important than diet

high stress- agreed

fattening fast food- agree and strongly disagree.  fat is not the problem your government wants to tell you it is.  in fact, fat is an important and necessary part of your diet and a critical part of staying lean and healthy.  fast food is a problem but not because of the fat.  fat is your friend.  it's all of the other shit in fast food. 

"then there is certainly an argument that regulating and taxing sugar is as reasonable if not moreso than regulating and taxing cigarettes."

Sadly I am very aware of this. Which is why I am firmly against this, it will only add to the cost of being healthy, being healthy shouldn't cost more. You wonder why people eat big macs and shit, because it's 3 dollars and takes 5 minutes to go get. Price out some salad at the store or any type of fish? Exactly. Its already expensive enough to be healthy, not only that you add on to it that we have to pay more due to unhealthy fucks, and then you'll add another tax so we have to pay even more due to unhealthy fucks who won't change. Soon the budget for salmon is gonna go down and you'll have even more unhealthy people.

Eating right doesn't equal just taking sugar out of your diet. Its about a balance, you need to eat your greens, consume a moderate amount of fish a week, consume a minimal amount of red meat, eat whole grains loaded with protein. Simply cutting sugar out does you no good if you eat hamburger and fried chicken every day, you'll still be unhealthy and at risk for many heart conditions. Sugar is just a scapegoat to the bigger problem. The article may as well be title America you're all a bunch of fat bastards who eat like shit, to help you not eat like shit we have decided to tax said products. If you want something that will over throw a gov't and get people to stand up for their rights i think that would be what pushes people over the edge.

to that i would say

greens- yes, always a good idea

taking sugar out- can only help, always a good idea

fish- usually a good idea but be careful of mercury content, not all fish is tainted equally

red meat-  very good for you but in moderation

whole grains- don't need them, no reason to ever eat whole grains or wheat products, the government is lying to you about this

hamburger- perfectly fine in moderation, grass fed beef, bison burgers, etc

fried chicken- no problem depending on the type of oil used and type of chicken used.