For years doctors and politicians have tried to curb the American thirst for sugary sodas. In 2012, for example, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg banned the sale of large containers of sodas there. When the measure was later overturned, a new tactic was adopted, according to The New York Post:

“Dr. Thomas Farley, Bloomberg’s health commissioner, urged the feds to reconsider making sodas more expensive.

‘A soda tax is the simplest way to reduce consumption of sugary drinks, which are the biggest single contributor to the obesity epidemic in this country,’” according to Dr. Farley.”