Less tax, more prison

We all know that many popular drugs are highly addictive: yaa baa, alcohol, heroin, cigarettes, marijuana, and so on are all drugs that can make users addicts. Worse, all of these drugs that people use for fun cause serious problems for themselves, for other people and for society, so it's reasonable to make them illegal and imprison those who sell these harmful drugs. But is sugar addictive?

"Sugar tax may be necessary, England's chief medical officer says", tells us that because current voluntary agreements with industry to reduce sugar consumption and the resulting obesity problems might not be effective, England's chief medical officer, who believes that research will "research will find sugar is addictive" (2014, para. 3), has suggested that the government should consider introducing taxes on products with high sugar contents, such as soft drinks.

First, although Dame Sally Davies is careful not  to say that sugar has already been proven addictive, I think that the evidence, as plainly seen in human behaviour, does suggest that sugar really is an addictive substance, like many other things, from coffee, to red wine and the many other forms of alcohol, from cocaine to tobacco. I don't think sugar is a drug, like those other popular substances that many people love to use on a regular basis, but things don't have to be drugs to addict people - just look at TV, shopping and gambling, not to mention sex: some people do seem addicted to all of these things. And I guess I'm guilty of addiction to reading as well as to coffee and perhaps a few other things. So, I agree with the chief medical officer that sugar is probably addictive.

I am sure that sugar, along with too much fat in meat and oils is a major cause of obesity. And the evidence is very strong that obesity causes a wide range of diseases and other health problems from heart attacks, to diabetes, high blood pressure and so on. These health problems cause further problems to others: families are torn apart when people die early, families suffer financial harm because of health problems caused by sugar produced obesity, and society suffers reduced productivity and high public health costs from the bad effects of people eating too much sugar.

The solution is clear: since all the bad effects of producing, selling and using sugar in excess are the same sort of things as the harmful effects of drugs like cocaine, heroin, and yaa baa, the people who make, sell and use sugar in dangerous levels must be imprisoned, their assets taken and, if they are very big sugar producers and sellers, they have to be executed. These people are making selling products that serious problems to millions of people. I am sure that this solution to the serious social and personal problems caused by the addictive substance sugar will greatly benefit society, and especially children, who are easily lured into using this harmful chemical, often with serious harm for their entire lives. I know that some drugs are taxed, and the users not treated as criminals harming society, such as whisky, beer and cigars, but these taxes are clearly not solving the problems these drugs cause: alcohol use is a major cause of death, fights, traffic accidents and deaths, family violence, lower productivity and serious health problems, so taxing is not effective. Alcohol and cigarettes are as dangerous and cause as much, or more, harm to society and users any other drug, and so does sugar. All of these dangerous substances must be treated in the same way - catch the big producers and dealers, and put them in prison for many years. This works well to solve the yaa baa and marijuana problem, so it will also work to solve the alcohol and sugar problems.

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Reference

Sugar tax may be necessary, England's chief medical officer says. (2014, March 4). BBC News Health. Retrieved 2014, March 5 from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26442420