Last week, one day before it was set to take effect, a judge
blocked Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sized sugary drinks. The judge
questioned the bounds of health regulators, and felt they might not have the
authority to place such a ban. The judge, State Supreme Court Justice Milton
Tingling, said that “the soda rule has so many exemptions that it’s illegally arbitrary
and that the Bloomberg-appointed Board of Health trod on the City Council’s
turf to impose it,” according
to the Associated Press.
But it’s certainly not the end of the road for the ban,
which Bloomberg is planning on appealing. He called the block a “temporary
setback” and expressed confidence in seeing the ban through to success.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that momentum is moving in
our direction,” he said after the ban was struck down in court. The regulation
was meant to be a pioneering move toward battling the growing epidemic of
obesity in America. And despite the fact that the ban didn’t become law, some
restaurants are choosing to voluntarily follow the restrictions anyway.
The appeal will likely cause judges to examine how far,
exactly, health regulators’ authority should extend. And while a passionate
Bloomberg is currently spearheading the initiative, his term ends later this
year—and it’s unclear whether the city’s next mayor will feel as strongly about
it.
But whether or not the law ends up passing, it does at least
bring attention to some staggering statistics: 60% of adults and 40% of
children in NYC are obese. That amounts to over $4 billion spent each year
battling obesity-related medical issues. And sugary drinks certainly have been
linked to obesity.
Polls in NYC have shown that residents are as split as
anyone over the ban. Fifty-one percent oppose it, while forty-six percent
support it, according to a recent poll from Quinnipiac University. At this
point, it’s anyone’s game.
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