What do you think of a ban on larger size drinks?

[JET1971]

Why ban this and ban that. thats retarded. the issue isnt about the size of the oportion or what it's health issues are, its a lack of education. Want people to start making healthier choices? fund schools properly so people get a better education so they can make an informed choice. Educate first then you wont have a problem to fix later.

As for banning? I think if you want something banned you should lose the right to use something yourself.

 

[theheroofaction]

of course,this wouldn't help anything, it would just cause people to buy more cups.

 

[Apollo45]

-SNIP of a big rant on free will-

Your reasoning has one rather large flaw.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE WILL.

'Ahem' let me rephrase that, 'free will' the complete freedom to do what you want is impossible in today's interconnected society for it will inevitably conflict with the choices and will of others. For example: Someone wishes to have a bonfire during their party in the middle of a complete fire ban. His wouldn't be able to proceed with his 'free will choice' due to the risks and cost it posed to the rest of society.

Of course you could argue with that your choice of a drink does't do squat to anyone else directly like a massive firestorm and you're correct. However indirectly you are with higher tax rates (or insurance premiums) needed for medical services struggling to cope with peoples 'choice' of being morbidly obese.

Our world has become so interconnected that YOUR choice will have an affect, especially combined with millions of others making the same decision. So yes the ban on gulp style servings will restrict your freedoms, but so did your parents/caregivers did by stopping you from running into oncoming traffic/sticking things into power sockets etc.

That does however raise the question of WHO's decision is correct i.e. Censorship and assorted 'Big Brother' style laws but that is for another thread.

Well, if that's the case then let's go ahead and ban cars, because they pollute the environment and can kill people. And chairs that have more than a quarter inch of padding, because sitting down for too long makes you fat. Hmm... what else... well, television promotes a sedentary lifestyle, so let's make television only show programs that are absolutely vital for the people to see, or restrict the amount of time a television can be turned on per day. And let's make computers only function when used for work, since they suck power and also lead to a sedentary lifestyle.

This ban is completely ridiculous.

 

[BNguyen]

This video sums up my thoughts on it quite nicely.

His description for that video is "Welcome to first world problems" which I think sums it up perfectly. This is not about gun control, or drugs, or fraud scandals. It's about people that want to buy a full litre of fizzy juice to drink with a single meal. And if people have so little self restraint that they can't resist doing so, worsening the obesity epidemic then I think there does come a point at which the government has to step in and say, if you're gonna do that, then it'll cost you more. Shell out for multiple small drinks or drink less.

Honestly I think they shouldn't ban it, just double the tax on it, or triple, whatever works.

Excuse me but raising taxes on anything in the market is the same as the government imposing its will onto the people, and this is flat out wrong. By loosening the reigns of the government you are effectively allowing them to start pushing into other aspects of your life.
For example:
You have free time? Well, we get to tax you for every hour that you're not adding something productive to society? - say goodbye to art, music, sports, recreation in general.
Did not meet your quota for contributing? We need to tax you for how much you failed to add.
They will increase your 'fair share' and make sure someone with a whip or stun rod will watch over you every second of the day.
Fail to contribute enough of your hard-earned money to pay for government paychecks? Well you go to prison.

What I have a problem with this is that there are some people who will support these ludicrous types of control.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Unconstitutional, illogical, stupid. When government can choose if you can have kids or not then maybe it would make sense.

 

[Marik2]

I think any country that has an 'epidemic' of a lifestyle illness needs to take a long hard look at itself. (unfortunately that applies just as well to the UK, fattest country in Europe whoo!)

It is kind of obscene that so many of us are overweight when there are famines in other countries. It's hard to think of any solution to the problem, however, which doesn't infringe people's freedom.

Its pretty sad that such trivial social issues get so bad, that the government has to step in and babysit us.



-_-

 

[swenson]

Personally, I think it's an incredibly stupid idea. Since when is the government my mother? I'm an adult, I have a right to make my own choices about my own health. If I have so little self-control that I drink huge drinks all the time, rot out all my teeth, and become morbidly obese, so what? With stuff like cigarettes or alcohol, you can see immediate and direct negative effects on other people around you (drunk driving, getting in fights, secondhand smoke, whatever). What direct negative effects does drinking too much pop have on other people, except for maybe if you spill it on them?

If someone's an adult and their actions have no negative effects on others around them--and it's not something horribly immoral, which I don't think being obese is--then what business of the government's is it if they do it?

 

[Kyrinn]

First of all soda is NOT unhealthy. Drinking too much of it is what causes problems. This is the case with everything you can possibly drink. You can cause problems drinking too much water, too much milk, too much OJ. A can or two of coke a day is not going to make you fat, give you diabeetus, and burden the system.

What? Soda is nothing but unhealthy, at any amount. First of all, it's empty calories; in fact it's worse than empty calories. Hell you'd be better off drinking a can or two of beer a day. The phosphoric acid in coke will leach the calcium from you body. Someone who drinks a coke a day for 10 years is going to feel like shit. After 20 years they will have to have been taking calcium supplements in order to not have osteoporosis. Also the isulin spikes caused by the sheer amount of sugar in coke will eventually lead to isulin resistance and diabetes. Maybe not right away, but it can eventually happen. I'm not saying soda is the devil, one or two a week on a consistant basis won't do anything, but one or two a day will.

Also people seem to forget that no one is stopping an idiotic individual from consuming as much pop as they want. It's the companies they are imposing the laws on. Last I checked companies are not people.
You guys are seriously comparing this to North Korea and the Nazis? Under this same logic cigarettes shouldn't have had to put warning labels on the packs, people should just understand cigarettes are bad. Using this logic there should not be a legal drinking age, people should just know not to do it before 21; also dinking and driving laws? shouldn't exist. People who want to be doctors shouldn't have to go through med school and keep up their medical license in order to practise medicine, let them do what they want.
I can do this all day
(Yes I know some of those would affect the lives of other people. But when >50% of the US population is overweight and one third is obese...yea)

 

[Tono Makt]

I think the theory behind this is sound - Mrs. Makt and I intentionally bought smaller bowls about 3 years ago to cut down on our portion sizes and it has been a part of a rather astounding weight loss in Mrs. Makt. (Mr. Makt is still a fatty since he believes that getting up to put another scoop of ice cream in the bow counts as part of his daily exercise) However I think this errs too much on the side of "People are Morons and we must protect them from themselves.", so I don't support it. If people don't know that drinking lots of pop can make you fat, then there are bigger problems to deal with than how much pop they're drinking.

 

[Nubrain]

I sort of see the reasoning for this though I don't know if a ban is the way to go. I don't drink a lot of any carbonated beverages but normally once a month me and my husband will hit the drive through and I will usualy get a medium drink as it's all i needed. Sometiems we'll get two larges just because we don't want to confuse the girl taking our order and I always drink the whole thing and wind up with a headache afterwards. I don't need it, I didn't want that much but when I get it I always wind up drinking it without even noticing.

 

[Dosbilliam]

2 Liters? Do they really sell drinks that are Two liters?! How did it take so long for someone to even consider this ban?

I mean, what the hell? I think here in Sweden 0,5 liters is the largest we've got.

Yeah, those are pretty common for the poorer people here, since you can get one of those for a buck or less (where I live)...generally a better deal when money is tight and you need something to drink, and for some reason you haven't noticed water is REALLY close by and about the same price as a 12-pack of 12 oz. cans.:/

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

No, I don't think something should be banned just because some people think it's a bad idea. That's the tyranny of the majority dictating to the whole in ways that aren't pleasant as soon as you are on the receiving end, losing something you enjoy because someone else doesn't like it. It's the principle of the thing. Also, there are plenty of people who buy a humongous drink and then sip it all day long as their only beverage at a 12 hour shift or something at work, so the fact that they're available is - in that instance - an entirely reasonable thing... something such bans obviously don't consider.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

-SNIP of Godwin's Law Rant: North Korean class-

I am merely stating that your argument is flawed, unrealistic and comes off as rather hysterical. The governments of the world have been banning or restricting various substances throughout the ages form the benign, (tomato's) items with the capability for misuse (alcohol) to substances with clear danger with use (hard drugs).

A better argument could be made that such a ban would do very little in terms of its stated goals in reducing the numbers of obese in the city. It's like taking out one of the local drug dealers (a rather appropriate analogy at least to me). Sure you stopped one guy but there are dozens of other's out there (supermarkets selling big bottles etc). I'm uncertain how much power a American Mayor possess but a better target would be the the drug producers and king-pins (in this case the cola companies) and put pressure on them to reduce the sugar levels of their products.

Your Mayors heart is in the right place, he's just going about it in a half arsed way and your "IT'S MY RIGHT!" isn't helping. In fact it sounds like a druggie trying to keep their fix from disappearing.

REcaptcha: back to basics

 

[Iron Criterion]

I think it's bullshit and anyone who supports such things shouldn't be allowed near a lawbook with anything capable of editing it.


First of all soda is NOT unhealthy. Drinking too much of it is what causes problems. This is the case with everything you can possibly drink. You can cause problems drinking too much water, too much milk, too much OJ. A can or two of coke a day is not going to make you fat, give you diabeetus, and burden the system.


Secondly, STAY THE FUCK OUT OF PEOPLE'S LIVES! The people are perfectly capable of making the healthy choice if they want to. They clearly don't. They clearly want to choose the tasty one instead. LET THEM!


Fucking hell...god I sound like a republican, but for fuck's sake people stop trying to run everyone else's lives! If I want a double gulp that fucker had best be 64oz. That's what I'm paying for, that's what a double gulp is, that's what I had best be getting. If the government thinks that's wrong oh well, they can go fuck themselves. My body my rules.

No, it becomes the right of the government when the unhealthy lifestyle is as widespread as it is in the US and UK and putting strain on government resources and funds. At that point they can say - put the sugary drink down lard arse.

The only alternative is let them decay and rot in their own homes because they are too unhealthy to leave the house.