Saving Lives And Cash By Taxing Sugary Drinks
Would also prevent some diseases
Slapping a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks could save 13-thousand Canadian lives over 25 years, and prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke. University of Waterloo researchers say it would also mean $11.5B in health care savings and $43.6B in government revenue over the 25 years. Their study notes other countries, including France, Mexico, Norway and parts of the U.S. have implemented such a tax. In Mexico, where 70 per cent of the population is overweight or obese, it led to a decline in sugary drink purchases two years in a row. Click here for more on this story.
