One major thing about food, health and wellness that many people are ignorant of, is that - people's lifestyle, including their feeding habit and other things that goes through their mouth, their sleep - wake pattern and how organized they are (in general), has a way of getting back to them. Not immediately, but definitely.
There is one thing about about things taken into the body. They have a way of building bodily cells and contributing to growth, development and building the immunity and other things. Also, aside these things, things that enters the mouth can also slowly drain the life force from somebody, bringing about diverse forms of ill health as they grow older.
I can't really say if the invention of alcohol did more harm than good. It is important for disinfection purposes, but then, people still insist on ingesting this chemical substance that is used by health practitioners to sterilize a surface.
Irrespective of the fact that it is well written on the packets of cigarettes that smokers are liable to die young, people still ignore that message and they continue with smoking. Over here, when you try to advice people against smoking, they will begin to brag about how many years they have spent, smoking. Some will say that after eating, they will have the urge to vomit. However, when they smokes, the urge will disappear. Here i am thinking of when cigar became an antiemetic medication.
The fear i have for carbonated drinks can be compared to that of an elephant and a mice. When i hear any Psshhh (the sound of a carbonated drink being open), the first thing that comes to my mind is diabetes. I know for a fact that it don't really cause diabetes, they can be used to manage hypoglycaemia where there is no doctor, but when taken in regularly, and in quantum, it could result in chronic diseases.
Irrespective of the fact that these things can be harmful when taken in excess, i dont actually support that the government should impose huge taxes on these products. Yes, it will make it expensive for the consumer, but then, it will also make it more expensive for hospitals.
Some fluids like Dextrose water, and methylated spirit needs sugar and alcohol respectively for production. If these products are made expensive through high taxes, it will indirectly affect the health sector, which will in turn affect hospital bills (that is already high).
Contextualizing law and human rights, the fact that we are humans gives us access to flex our rights as we see fit, given that we are of age to should the consequences that comes with our decisions. Even children have rights.
Based on this, I dont think that the government should impose huge tarriffs on these products, however, the health sector should tell people about the good and bad of these products (which we have been actively doing). They should allow people make their choices for themselves. If they want to live, they should follow the advice, and if they want to get sick, then they should not.
They should decide if they want to spend their old age in the hospital by taking these harmful substances or if they want to enjoy their old age with loved ones outside the hospital.
Thank you for reading.