After reading these articles I am really impressed by what Bloomberg did with smoking and trans fat laws. But like those who posted before me I can’t help but try to distinguish what was the difference between the smoking ban and the soda tax. What’s the difference?
Well in fact there are a number of differences between the smoking band and soda tax. One major difference is the smoking ban affected everyone. The soda tax is specifically geared towards those who are lower class. It is not just an attempt at making New York healthier but it stratifies NY, giving unfair advantages to those who can afford the tax.The smoking ban is telling everyone to stop smoking it is bad for your health. The soda tax is telling a sub group of people you can’t buy soda because you don’t know what best for you, but the rest of NY can. There lies the crucial difference between some of the amazing things Bloomberg did for NY’s health and the soda tax. Another difference is Bloomberg attempted to make a law that he couldn’t enforce across the boarder. When he specified where people couldn’t smoke he had that jurisdiction. However, the city does not have control over all stores and how much soda they sell. So even though you might not be able to buy 20 oz of soda in a restaurant you can still buy it in 7/11. A final distinction for our purposes is the smoking ban eliminated smoking, the soda tax raised the price for soda. The same amount of soda can still be bought just for a higher price. This again brings us back to the fact that the tax seems to be an attack on the lower class.
After fully discussing some of the differences between the two, I’ve realized that I can’t make a general statement concerning Bloomberg’s health laws, but I’ll do my best. Some of them have made NY a healthier place, while others I am happy they were dismissed.
