摘要：Excise taxes on sugary beverages have been proposed as a method to replicate the public health success of tobacco control and to generate revenue. As policymakers increase efforts to pass sugary beverage taxes, they can anticipate that manufacturers will emulate the strategies employed by tobacco companies in their attempts to counteract the impact of such taxes. Policymakers should therefore consider 2 complementary laws—minimum price laws and prohibitions on coupons and discounting—to accomplish the intended price increase. EXCESSIVE SUGARY BEVERAGE consumption is associated with metabolic changes and increased risk for diabetes, coronary heart disease, and obesity. 1 Excise taxes on sugary beverages have been proposed as a method to replicate the public health successes of tobacco control and to generate revenue that could be used for other public health strategies and help finance government activity. 1 The reduction of smoking incidence and prevalence in the United States is partially attributed to the implementation of several successful policy strategies, one of which is increased excise taxes. 2 The federal government and the states share concurrent power to tax; local jurisdictions’ authority to tax is determined by state law and varies widely. My focus is on state taxes because sugary beverage taxes have been mostly proposed by state governments. 3 All 50 states and the District of Columbia impose excise taxes on cigarettes, and their amounts have gradually increased. 4 In 2011, the mean tax rate among all states was $1.46; the lowest state cigarette excise tax was $0.17 per pack, and the highest was $4.35 per pack. 4 Such taxes are partially credited for reducing youth smoking initiation and cigarette consumption while simultaneously decreasing the total amount of cigarettes consumed by persistent users. 2 Although high taxes have been proven to deter consumption, they are not acting alone. 2 The combination of price increases and other restrictions, such as indoor smoking bans and limits on marketing, have resulted in changes to social norms and a steady decline in smoking rates. Proponents of sugary beverage excise taxes do not suggest that price increases alone will terminate consumption or reverse obesity trends. 1 Additional policy options that align with a sugary beverage taxation strategy include removal from schools, mandated serving size restrictions, educational campaigns, retail marketing strategies, and age limits to purchase particularly harmful products such as energy drinks. However, for the tax component of this policy portfolio to be effective, it must actually increase the price of the product to a level that deters consumption. Therefore, it must be assessed at more than a negligible amount and be passed through to consumers. In light of some differences and similarities between sugary beverage manufacturers and tobacco manufacturers, policymakers should consider complementary laws to ensure that the tax levied is factored into the final retail price of the product. Two such laws—minimum price mandates and prohibitions on coupons and discounting—are paramount to the policy discussion.
