Poll: Should Junk Foods be Taxed Higher to Bring Down Obesity Risks and Costs?

After the surgeon-general declared smoking dangerous to your health, steep taxes helped bring down U.S. cigarette use.  Now comes the latest report on obesity, which suggests that 42 percent of Americans will be obese by 2030. The forecast by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “32 million more people could be obese in 2030—adding $550 billion in health spending over that time span,” according to an Associated Press report.

In 2010, Washington State voters passed Initiative 1107  to end new taxes on candy and soda pop, among other items. Do you think it's time to revisit this issue? Is it time to slap extra taxes on foods high in sugar or saturated fat? Or should education and the marketplace handle what some call a public health crisis?