Bloomberg Seeking Soda Ban in NYC

While trying to find ways to close a large budget gap of billions of dollars, as in raise taxes, the New York state legislature tried to impose a tax on all sugary drinks under the guise that the drinks were unhealthy and the reason many New Yorkers are overweight.

Well, the proposal failed and there was no tax levied on sugary drinks.

Enter New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg who is seeking to put a ban on the purchase of carbonated drinks with food stamps because…the drinks make people fat and a large percentage of New York City dwellers are overweight.

Currently tobacco, alcohol, paper products, tooth paste, soap, cleaning products, and baby diapers are on the list of items that cannot be purchased with food stamps or an EBT food stamp card.

Bloomberg is seeking a two year ban on the purchase of carbonated drinks from the Department of Agriculture, the overseers of the national food stamp program, in order to give researchers enough time to study the effects of the ban.

Carbonated drinks are often targeted when citing the reason why Americans are overweight, but many other items considered healthy, ie milk, juice, peanut butter, are all loaded with sugars and fats that also cause weight gain.

The issue in obesity is not the food intake, but the lack of calories burned. If the number of calories taken in outnumber the number of calories burned a person will gain weight.

Comments and experts alike are divided on the drink ban with some claiming it’s about time and other saying that the intended ban in an infringement of American freedoms.