City planning to ban sale of oversized sweetened drinks

gtchs

I think I'm a libertarian at heart, because I will never think it's right to legally regulate things just because they're unhealthy. Especially if they're only unhealthy to the person consuming them. If people want to kill themselves slowly with sugar it's not my business. If they want to kill themselves fast with crack that's not my business, either.

Down with the nanny state.

This.

Times infinity.

Ditto!

B21goddess

I think over sized sweetened drinks are disgusting. I also am baffled by people who consume too much of this crap. (Or any of it really)


I also feel that the beautiful thing about America is we have a choice as to what kind of life we live. So No I dont think any city,town or state has any business banning any food or drink.

agreed about the second part

bigdawg025

Sure... let's just keep giving the government more and more control. This is B.S. So much of our "freedom" in this country has already been taken away in many different ways... there are SEVERAL countries that are more "free" than we are today. It makes me sick.

mrsmel55

Does anyone think this will stop someone who wants it? PLLLLLEASE! They will just buy another and another and another!!! Who stopped me from buying more than one bag of Cheetos and more than one bag of Fritoes and eating them all....NOBODY but me. At some point, as an adult you have to take resposibilty for yourself.

LilacDreamer

Does anyone think this will stop someone who wants it? PLLLLLEASE! They will just buy another and another and another!!! Who stopped me from buying more than one bag of Cheetos and more than one bag of Fritoes and eating them all....NOBODY but me. At some point, as an adult you have to take resposibilty for yourself.

Yes, adults do have to take responsibility for themselves. But they don't. These habits start in childhood and that needs to be curbed. Perhaps this will help that, perhaps it won't. But something needs to be done.

Obesity is an epidemic. People were never this large before, in the history of this country. People walked everywhere, people spent hours and hours outside of there house (for reasons that were not work related), people cooked food at home, and drank beverages that came from the earth - not cooked up in some laboratory or made in a factory, people didnt spend there every free moment in front of a television watching reality show after reality show or playing video games, they didnt spend hours on the internet. they actually DID things. They LIVED life, they didn't just sit back and watch it pass them by as if life wasn't real.

Life is like a sims game, and society has made it that way.

ASPhantom

I think I'm a libertarian at heart, because I will never think it's right to legally regulate things just because they're unhealthy. Especially if they're only unhealthy to the person consuming them. If people want to kill themselves slowly with sugar it's not my business. If they want to kill themselves fast with crack that's not my business, either.

Down with the nanny state.

Yes Please!!

Oh... and this: We live in a country where abortions are legal but now I can't have the size soda I want. Really? Come on.
Misplaced priorities.

Sharon009

I think I'm a libertarian at heart, because I will never think it's right to legally regulate things just because they're unhealthy. Especially if they're only unhealthy to the person consuming them. If people want to kill themselves slowly with sugar it's not my business. If they want to kill themselves fast with crack that's not my business, either.

Down with the nanny state.

Yes Please!!

Oh... and this: We live in a country where abortions are legal but now I can't have the size soda I want. Really? Come on.
Misplaced priorities.

Right on!

kayemme

I understand the argument about personal responsibility. That would be all well and good if a person's obesity only affected his- or herself. If you can't afford healthcare and you have an obesity-related illness, do you know who pays? Everyone. Hospital rates are raised on those who can afford it to cover those who can't. And what about those who have insurance? When more and more people use their insurance for preventable conditions, it raises the cost of insurance for everyone else.

I am to assume you live in a bubble? You don't drive vehicles that use gas? Use items that require batteries. Consume pre packaged food? All that you do impacts others. Just saying...

True enough. You've actually given me something to think about (no sarcasm intended at all). It would be great if I could afford an electric vehicle or 100% fresh food. Unfortunately I can't. But I can afford not to buy jumbo sodas and coffee drinks. I don't anyway, so it's not really hurting me. Where is the line? Hmm...

I don't drive a car. I use rechargeable batteries. I don't consume pre-packaged food. Yes, all I do does, in fact, impact others. And I couldn't be more grateful.

I ride a bicycle! I use a pushmower (a real push mower) I grow my own food (organically); I bend my big *kitten* over and pick weeds with my hands. I read, I play, I lead an extraordinary life. And I don't miss consumerism at all. Luckily, I had the ability to decide for myself. Eventually, someone will have to make the decision for the rest of the States. Fact is: resources are limited. And it's clear who's using them all.

Those who drive cars & eat at fast food impact my world. Why is that okay and not the other way around? OH, because "everybody" does it, right?

Ride your bike up a hill behind an oil truck. Or better yet, a garbage truck. Tell me how you feel later.

elenathegreat

I understand the argument about personal responsibility. That would be all well and good if a person's obesity only affected his- or herself. If you can't afford healthcare and you have an obesity-related illness, do you know who pays? Everyone. Hospital rates are raised on those who can afford it to cover those who can't. And what about those who have insurance? When more and more people use their insurance for preventable conditions, it raises the cost of insurance for everyone else.

To extend that argument, being overweight should be illegal. The government should then outlaw french fries, high fat chips, ice cream, McDonald's, bacon, and anything else that might cause one to become overweight.

The solution is to hand out food pellets to each citizen, and drink nothing but water. Nobody will be fat, and we'll all live forever.

The food pellet thing just made me think of Soylent Green....*shudder*

Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!

Wildheart_Baby

See, it doesn't matter who is doing the restricting of freedoms - unless a substance is explosive (can cause damage to mass numbers of people) or incredibly lethal in an immediate way, people HAVE to be free to choose their own way. We have absolutely no chance of growing and gaining maturity if we take away each person's ability to make bad choices. We each have to make our mistakes in order to grow - haven't you noticed that? Does a child walk perfectly the first time? Or does a child have to fall down a few times before learning? We learn by making mistakes and finding better ways of living. It's who we are as a species.

Just a conjecture, but I venture a guess that you'd be screaming at the top of your lungs if some church person was in charge and wanted to force you to live according to their beliefs.

I'm not saying we ban all soft drinks and soda, just that we set a limit on the sizes that can be sold, as for the tv and video games, you can effectively ban them within your own household, so that they couldn't be accessed by anyone who you feel shouldn't have access to them.

Me watching a tv program that has all manner of things that you feel are wrong and my playing video games where they allow me to blast away an enemy, shoot police officers or other anti social things won't effect others, as that is within the confines of own home. Yes, like weapons in the wrong hands they can have a negative effect but for the most part they are escapism.

This isn't about taking away a person's ability to make a bad choices, this is helping to moderate their intake of something that can have an adverse effect on their health and weight. I think people should be educated about making better choices but as some have suggested its cheaper to buy junk over proper nutritious foods, this is a really shocking state of affairs.

I like that you've already mentioned that you're for personal choice even when there are so many things you feel are bad for society as a whole, my guess would be you're all for freedom of choice, except when it comes down to the two hot button topics for Christians, still that's your right.

If it weren't for governments setting up legislation then it would still be fine for companies to have unsafe working conditions in heavy industries or allow companies to decimate the environment with chemical pollution, which if we took it right back to the right to do just as you please, would never have been enacted for the good of society.

So to clarify, I'm suggesting limiting a person's intake of soda, isn't quite the same as wanting it all banned.

DataBased

See, it doesn't matter who is doing the restricting of freedoms - unless a substance is explosive (can cause damage to mass numbers of people) or incredibly lethal in an immediate way, people HAVE to be free to choose their own way. We have absolutely no chance of growing and gaining maturity if we take away each person's ability to make bad choices. We each have to make our mistakes in order to grow - haven't you noticed that? Does a child walk perfectly the first time? Or does a child have to fall down a few times before learning? We learn by making mistakes and finding better ways of living. It's who we are as a species.

Just a conjecture, but I venture a guess that you'd be screaming at the top of your lungs if some church person was in charge and wanted to force you to live according to their beliefs.

I'm not saying we ban all soft drinks and soda, just that we set a limit on the sizes that can be sold, as for the tv and video games, you can effectively ban them within your own household, so that they couldn't be accessed by anyone who you feel shouldn't have access to them.

Me watching a tv program that has all manner of things that you feel are wrong and my playing video games where they allow me to blast away an enemy, shoot police officers or other anti social things won't effect others, as that is within the confines of own home. Yes, like weapons in the wrong hands they can have a negative effect but for the most part they are escapism.

This isn't about taking away a person's ability to make a bad choices, this is helping to moderate their intake of something that can have an adverse effect on their health and weight. I think people should be educated about making better choices but as some have suggested its cheaper to buy junk over proper nutritious foods, this is a really shocking state of affairs.

I like that you've already mentioned that you're for personal choice even when there are so many things you feel are bad for society as a whole, my guess would be you're all for freedom of choice, except when it comes down to the two hot button topics for Christians, still that's your right.

If it weren't for governments setting up legislation then it would still be fine for companies to have unsafe working conditions in heavy industries or allow companies to decimate the environment with chemical pollution, which if we took it right back to the right to do just as you please, would never have been enacted for the good of society.

So to clarify, I'm suggesting limiting a person's intake of soda, isn't quite the same as wanting it all banned.

How did I know somebody was going to mis-read my statements as a personal conviction of what I think should be banned. Please read it again - You totally missed the point. I'm NOT for any of those bans. I'm saying that it doesn't matter who is making the bans, eventually one day they're going to ban what YOU like and think shouldn't be restricted. Aside from that, they are not Constitutional and they are not in conformance with what our forebears created when they formed our government.

I understand business regulations better than you know - believe me. But there is absolutely NOTHING okay about you deciding I need your so-called help "regulating" my own drink size. Absolutely nothing.

Go back and re-read the piece with the "let's say..." part as a the hypothetical conjecture it was stated to be. Please.

liftingheavy

I think I'm a libertarian at heart, because I will never think it's right to legally regulate things just because they're unhealthy. Especially if they're only unhealthy to the person consuming them. If people want to kill themselves slowly with sugar it's not my business. If they want to kill themselves fast with crack that's not my business, either.

Down with the nanny state.

I just leisurely read this thread and noticed that this was the most "liked" post and just wondered if these so called libertarians (which most really aren't they are happy to have the government regulate things that they are for/against) actually got what they wished for.

The Crackhead who the poster doesn't care about cant afford to buy crack(even if its legal) and breaks into multiple houses. Local taxes are spent on law enforcement. Crackhead kills unsuspecting libertarian MFPer. The state spends millions prosecuting, incarnating and then to the delight of right wingers executed. The three kids the crackhead left behind become the ward of the state. For the rest of their childhood the kids get federal government assistance. Which we all pay for.

Government is for the people by the people if we could wrest it from the oligarchs and big businesses who control it like Exxon, The Bushes, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Wall Street, and the other billionaires who control both parties, maybe we could get somethings done to help everyone.

Oh yeah I was taught by my parents and church to care about my fellow citizens not the government.

Great post. I am astounded by the level of short term thinking that exists regarding this subject. I asked about the number of 18 year olds that are now too obese to enlist in the military and there were crickets. This post and many others looking at the long term ramifications of 32% obesity in this country and rising are right on.

liftingheavy

I'm indifferent. If they banned it here, oh well. I'll drink water. I'm not going to get upset about it.

that is, until the water supply is poisoned and needs to be sold to you in "recycleable" bottles for $2 a quart. oh, my bad; that's what's happening now.

Blame the reductions in regulations (ie FREEDOM) on tap water purity and corporations that sell you bottled water for 2 dollars, and a 52 ounce jug of mountain dew for 69 cents.

liftingheavy

I could not care less about how many oversized sweetened drinks adults drink, or frankly, anything else the do as long as it does not affect me.

The problem is that I see kids drinking these things more than adults these days. Oversized sweet drinks and fire cracker cheetos in the morning.

That is a problem. I am a Junior Achievement volunteer and the size of kids in middle school is astonishing compared to when I was in school.

But when you were in school did you sit on the computer when you got home or play video games all day? Because I didn't, I was outside playing until the street lights came on and my parents never gave me money to carry to school, I got hot lunch or I got cold lunch (bring your own).

We played outside until the street lights came on. Kickball, dodgeball, and kick the can. Kids also do not do these things. So if they are sitting in front of a video game, there is no way they should be drinking 52 ounces of soda on top of it.

tsh0ck

I got a 44-ouncer for free today. because, well, if you get seven, you get the next free. bonus!

(now, I got a diet dr pepper, then dropped in some vanilla and cherry flavoring. I'm not sure if that makes me evil or not, but I did enjoy it, so I guess I don't really care.)

liftingheavy

The largest big gulp is 1.9 liters. Drink that in water- That’s your 8 cups a day.

In Coke. 800+ calories and 234 grams of sugar.

In Dew, over 1,000 calories and 276g of sugar

In Pepsi, 852 and 210 grams of sugar.

When I make a standard 8 inch sponge I use 180g of sugar. There is more sugar in the these soft drinks then there is in entire CAKE.

We occasionally get a 2 liter bottle for the house. It lasts 5 of us 2 meals or 2 of us nearly a week. I cannot see why anyone needs that or multiples of that a day. It’s all about free choice I know, but why allow people to make the free choice to kill themselves?

When I drive my car, on the interstate, at 70 miles per hour, it takes me an hour to get where I'm going. That's the speed limit so that's the speed I drive. Why allow Chevrolet to sell the Corvette in the State of Florida? The maximum speed limit is 70. Should Chevy govern all of their vehicles to the maximum speed mandated by the State they are sold in? Is it Chevrolet's fault that insurance companies incur expenses from drivers exceeding the speed limit? What about P90X? You could pull something working out like that. If you're uninsured, the taxpayers will have to pick up the expense of your reckless activity. Should the State ban running because it may be bad for your knees? Please forgive my sarcasm, it just boggles my mind that there are those among us that believe lawmakers should make all of our choices. If you don't like a bucket of soda with your lunch... Don't order it. If you want a 6oz soda but it's not available, order a 12oz and drink 1/2. And if you need your government to dictate every aspect of your life, move to China.

I would not want to live in China because I believe this is the best country in the world, BUT. In terms of some of the things they regulate and expect, all I can say is that their kids are as smart as whips. And unless they are poor, very physically fit.

tsh0ck

well, the kids they let them have, anyway.

liftingheavy

well, the kids they let them have, anyway.

Different thread. Don't even get me started on folks having kids they cannot support financially, emotionally or NUTRITIONALLY.

StarvingDiva

I could not care less about how many oversized sweetened drinks adults drink, or frankly, anything else the do as long as it does not affect me.

The problem is that I see kids drinking these things more than adults these days. Oversized sweet drinks and fire cracker cheetos in the morning.

That is a problem. I am a Junior Achievement volunteer and the size of kids in middle school is astonishing compared to when I was in school.

But when you were in school did you sit on the computer when you got home or play video games all day? Because I didn't, I was outside playing until the street lights came on and my parents never gave me money to carry to school, I got hot lunch or I got cold lunch (bring your own).

We played outside until the street lights came on. Kickball, dodgeball, and kick the can. Kids also do not do these things. So if they are sitting in front of a video game, there is no way they should be drinking 52 ounces of soda on top of it.

Which I think is a bigger problem. Lack of exercise. Whether it's the excuse that kids can't be out playing because some killer/pedophile is going to get them or their parents are too busy on their Iphones, Ipads and Laptops to bother going outside and playing with them. How about not giving your kids video games, guess what? Don't buy it, it won't be in the house for them to play. I didn't have a TV in my room until I was 17 and I had to buy it for myself, now you see kids all the time having TVs in their rooms. Soda was around when I was a kid, I didn't drink it until I was in Jr. High. Education is key to a lot of this and parents need to get off their *kitten*.