A new law passing on New Year’s Eve in Seattle has angered plenty. A tax on sugary drinks such as soft drinks, teas and even sports drinks (excluding diet drinks),in the hopes of encouraging healthier diets with less processed sugar and more nutrition.

“Seattle voters enacted a 1.75 cents-per-fluid-ounce tax on the drinks.” USA TODAY states.

This adds up to about 21 cents added to every 12-ounce drink.  

This law was put in act because “[It] would reduce consumer consumption of sugary drinks that have little nutritional value and have been linked to obesity, diabetes and other health problems in some studies.” USA TODAY.

People are angry because according to Harvard T.H. Chan, “4 out of 5 households own at least 4 cans of soda in the US.”

Although people are upset, there is a silver lining to this new law. A potentially beneficial result of this recently enacted law could  be people being less prone to purchasing these drinks due to their higher costs, and therefore contributing to the general health of the public.

On the other hand, store owners believe that their businesses will be impacted negatively, as opposed consumers say the law will  “punish the poor”.

According to Seattle Times, “Doctors say the main point [of the act] is to discourage people from buying sugary drinks — which have been linked to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and dental decay.”

The tax on sweetened drinks is both a good and bad thing for consumers. This epidemic may reduce the percentage on people who are obese or struggle with health issues, or it may just do nothing and people will continue to purchase the same amount of sugary drinks.