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Old 12-12-2009, 02:07 AM
 
30,873 posts, read 36,808,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tired-of-mn View Post
They first need to finish the job on tobaco and elimanate it from ALL workplaces,bars and casinos.You can smoke all you want by yourself.I am all for a user tax on sodas.Those are the best kinds of taxes. if you dont want to pay the tax DONT BUY IT.I think they should cut back on income tax and ramp up user taxes on things like booze, candy,toys,pop,weed(legalize it first) and lots of other non essental items.
I can't believe all states arean't already doing this. California did this more than a decade ago.

That said, fewer and fewer people smoke today. So the improvement in overall health and health care costs by further reducing smoking, while still significant, is becoming less important compared to other factors.
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Old 12-12-2009, 02:16 AM
 
30,873 posts, read 36,808,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reloop View Post
I think that's fairly predictable. Years ago when smoking became the "topic of the day" I thought it was foreseeable that obesity would be next on the target list.

I'll insert a "sigh" here only because it frustrates me to see common sense flushed down the drain (IMO) and to have "people" decide what's good and what's not good for me, and to add insult to injury, criticize me if I decide to eat a donut (disclosure - I'm not obese - could I stand to lose 10 lbs? Probably, according to whichever "healthy weight" chart I decide to believe - consider the myriad of them - but I do try to have a little self-control).
I think a lot of the problems of telling other people what to do about their health would go away if people just paid cash out of pocket for health care. If people saw the direct relationship between their lifestyle and their health costs (not distorted by insurance), many would change their behavior without the government taxing or otherwise trying to force them. This would also create a social environment where healthy eating living was the norm instead of the exception.

They're finding more and more that being overweight is actually 'contagious' in the sense that overweight people and thin people tend to hang out together and reinforce each others' habits (good or bad).

I have witnessed this with a friend of mine first hand. My friend, K started going to Overeaters Anonymous about a year ago and lost 50 pounds and has kept it off. A close overweight friend of hers, C, who lives out of state, came for a visit and saw the good results K had and also started going to OA. C has now lost 30 pounds in 4 months' time. C doesn't hang out with some of her overweight friends any more because she became aware of how much their lives revolve around eating, and unhealthy eating at that.
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Old 12-12-2009, 02:17 AM
 
Location: The Midst of Insanity
3,219 posts, read 7,066,075 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarryEyedSurprise View Post
Exactly this. A person smoking nearby endangers my health, even though the only participation I have is that I am breathing. That same person drinking a soda or eating a hotdog will not impact my health by his/her consumption. So, no.

However, almost three years ago I quit drinking caffeine, cold turkey - and really, two weeks of debilitating migraines later really made me wonder just how addictive that stuff really is. I feel FAR healthier without it in my system.
There are those who would disagree with you. Many feel that obesity does impact others (raises insurance premiums, for instance).

There are already proposals to put a special tax on regular soda (but for some reason, not diet soda which is just as bad). I don't think it will end here, either.
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Old 12-12-2009, 08:23 AM
 
Location: New Kensington (Parnassus) ,Pa
2,422 posts, read 2,269,122 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Orangeish View Post
How do you know if was from specifically Mt Dew and not lack of good dental habits, or too much candy, or a million other potential causes? I can't locate the link but they did a thing on mythbusters about soda and its effect on teeth, and they determined that it is overstated. I agree in theory that pop cannot be good for teeth, but I think it is a bit overzealous to blame his bad teeth just on the intake of soda.
There was a report on the news about how bad the acid content in soda is on tooth enamel and dentists are seeing it more and more in younger kids. His dental hygiene is good and I know he doesn't eat a lot of candy, so I am assuming it is the soda.
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Old 12-12-2009, 08:25 AM
 
Location: New Kensington (Parnassus) ,Pa
2,422 posts, read 2,269,122 times
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Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
Actually, Salt would be a better contender. The ravages of excessive sodium in the human diet exceed even tobacco and alcohol.
I've never heard this, do you have any link info?
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Old 12-12-2009, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,579 posts, read 86,688,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aveojohn View Post
I've never heard this, do you have any link info?
Health Facts: Sodium and Potassium

Eating less salt is an important way to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, which may in turn reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney damage.

The danger salt poses to your health

Only in recent years have scientists begun to discover that excessive consumption of salt may be associated with serious health problems [including hypertension, osteoporosis, stomach cancer]

My doctor told me the when he worked in the ER, he knew of many instances in which a sudden surge of salt intake triggered almost immediate symptoms of congestive heart failure, typically several big servings of ham for Christmas dinner.

Did you know that one ounce of corn flakes or total or special-K contains more salt (sodium) than one ounce of potato chips? Read the label if you don't believe me. One 'average serving' of canned pork and beans (a quarter of a can) contains more salt than TWO 'average servings' of potato chips. One serving of a microwaveable cuppa-soup, all by itself, contains your entire daily maximim recommended salt intake, and even that USDA allowance is too high, according to most doctors.

Last edited by jtur88; 12-12-2009 at 10:45 AM..
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Old 12-12-2009, 12:47 PM
 
18,655 posts, read 33,247,800 times
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I certainly hope there are no "sin taxes" on individual products. Yes, soda is junk and serves no good purpose. Botox is stupid and a luxury for some. Let's see, fatty meat is worse than lean meat is worse than vegetables. Sugar serves no healthy purpose. Etc.
Now, tobacco... a legal product which, when used legally and as intended, causes enormous healthcare costs and deaths, directly and solely related to its consumption. A bit different than soda being one of many things that aren't healthy, or add calories, or whatever.
Try to tax everything that doesn't have x amount of benefit- a political nightmare.
Tax tobacco, and fewer people smoke (or start). And the money can go for the enormous health costs directly and clearly related.
I think people who work in tobacco advertising must have trouble sleeping soundly at night. Either that, or they should.
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Old 12-12-2009, 01:35 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,579 posts, read 86,688,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brightdoglover View Post
I think people who work in tobacco advertising must have trouble sleeping soundly at night. Either that, or they should.
No, as someone who worked in advertising, people work 9 to 5 and go home and forget about their job, same as everyone else. I spent the whole day trying to find clever ways to part fools and their money, but so does almost everyone else who works in the private sector, one way or another. Those of us in the advertising business thought of it as a creative art form, and didn't care what we sold to whom for whose benefit, as long as we could show our work to our peers and say "look what I did". From TV dinners to gold-studded caskets, it's all the same.

Last edited by jtur88; 12-12-2009 at 01:44 PM..
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Old 12-12-2009, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Planet Eaarth
8,954 posts, read 20,625,071 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
No, as someone who worked in advertising, people work 9 to 5 and go home and forget about their job, same as everyone else. I spent the whole day trying to find clever ways to part fools and their money, but so does almost everyone else who works in the private sector, one way or another. Those of us in the advertising business thought of it as a creative art form, and didn't care what we sold to whom for whose benefit, as long as we could show our work to our peers and say "look what I did". From TV dinners to gold-studded caskets, it's all the same.
As some here can see from the past post there is a growing understanding of the damage soda pop can , and will, do to the human body. As far as will soda pop be the next tobacco all I can say is in time some lawyer, or nanny group, will see this as a target for huge dollars in compensation related law suits.

The "slippery slope" that is the attack on personal liberties has been well greased during the tobacco wars so the legal precedent will make the coming attack on obesity and soda pop much easier to prosecute and win.

This is what happens when the people allow a narrow minded nanny group take over ,and take away, your civil liberties.

If the tobacco war proved anything it proved beyond the shadow of a doubt how gullible and sheep like the general public is and can be.
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Old 12-12-2009, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,579 posts, read 86,688,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tightwad View Post

This is what happens when the people allow a narrow minded nanny group take over ,and take away, your civil liberties.
You mean like our civil liberties to segregate society, or evict widows, or overgraze land to create a dustbowl, or pollute Lake Erie and set it on fire, or hold coal miners in perpetual bondage? Which gullible people thought were happening?
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