Oh, and I don't mean alcohol. Now, in the People's Republic of New York City, you can get a $200 fine for drinking Coca-Cola...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/ … Y220120913
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/nyreg … a-ban.html

Frankly, I think this will have a nil affect on health. If you want people to lead a healthier life, you need to educate them, not tell them you can NOT drink this nor eat this. To be fair, this is not a ban, and it's not as far reaching as some people claim, BUT I personally believe this is government interfering in people's personal lives, and I don't like it, no sir not one bit!

Even as someone who recently gave up soda not too long ago, I'm completely against this. It's not the government's job to dictate what we consume, or how much of it. If they want to target obesity, they can't merely curb soda size--they're going to have to place limits on all kind of "obesity foods," and that's a door I don't want opened.

Sorry avatar, you're missing one important detail in your description...the ban is for LARGE sodas, not sodas in general. As in, sodas that are so large, they are genuinely over-unhealthy and it is possible for people to be caught off-guard by their content due to their size and, if they're like me, are more likely to want to finish it as opposed to throwing some away. Soda, to me, is just a waste of calories for the day anyway (I'd rather drink water and save the calories for a tasty dessert or something) and the sugar content is more dangerous than people realize. I think more legislation like this would be welcome, to cut down on grotesquely large portions.

In any case, there's nothing I see that stops you from getting a second smaller one...So this ban looks paper-thin in reality.

People are hedonists. The goal of most people is to maximize pleasure as much as time and finances allow. If corpulence is the price for pleasure, then most people will pay it. That is an important fact to internalize: people are ready and willing to sacrifice their health for pleasure. Hedonists live "in the moment" and do not consider what their actions from moment to moment will do in some future moment. I know a woman that lost all of her front teeth from a combination of eating sweet foods, drinking soda, and not visiting the dentist for 18 years. All of her teeth were stained from heavy smoking as well. She got dentures and continues every bad habit that led to the loss of her teeth. She is just one of millions that are completely unconcerned with the negative effects of a continuously pleasurable lifestyle. Education will not help these people. Laws will not help them. They don't care; this is what must be understood.

with all the backlash that certain food companies have been enduring in recent years, what with news of all the unhealthy, artificial crap that goes into their products to make them addicting and more often consumed, you'd think they'd start cutting some of that stuff out of their products. when you think about it, Pepsi and Coke are two of the most consumed drinks in the world as it is. why do they need to make them more addicting than they already are?

I think Jodo hit it on the head here.

It's so easy for me to picture this making the targeted demographic self-entitled and indignant about the whole issue.

Well they've HAD Diet flavors for years (which have been proven to been much much worse) and Coke Zero and whatnot, but they're not making them more addicting, and it's not their fault if convenience stores like 7-11 make bigger cups. This law is targeting those stores in particular.

But the failure here lies in the simple fact that people can still buy MORE soda. If they really want more then they will buy more, simple as that. Now if the government makes soda illegal and prescribes it like a drug (LOL) then their dream will be reached. Don't see that happening though.