Sugar....Baby?

[Robust]

An associate and I declined the dessert portion of a dinner party and stepped outside on the veranda for a smoke. We were soon joined by our hostess with plate of cheesecake in hand and an ashtray - accompanied by a sanctimonious dissertation on the evils of smoking. We of course refrained from countering the objection, snubbing the smokes and directing the conversation to more common grounds. Yet the issue rode heavy with us and which we later pursued on the political front.

It would be difficult to name any consumable product more detrimental to the general health than that of the refined sugar in the cheesecake of our hostess. In my time I have seen the retail price of tobbaco products increased by some 1,000% as a result of the do-gooders protesting its health hazards. Well....what's good for the goose is good for the gander, I say. As a direct result of that little soirree then an increasingly supportive campaign has been waged in my state to place an excise tax on refined sugar comparable to that of tobbaco. What say you in this regard?

[Fishteacher73]

Sugar is not as nearly as physically addictive as nicotine. Refined sugar can arguably be used as long as balanced with the neccessary dietary requirements and caloric intake is balanced with physical expenditure.

Such correlations do not fit with tobacco usage. Getting fat does not get the person next to you fat. (Second-hand sugar?).

Not that I argue against a person's ability to chose to smoke or not to smoke, it is their own choice.

[Dark Mind]

I'm sixteen, I've tried smoking, (Note: I was about 5 or 6 and my dad was smoking, he threw down a cigarette by me and walked around to the other side of the house and my young impressionable mind thought "Hey, if my dad is doing why shouldn't I?" so I picked up what remained of the still lit cigarette, put it to my lips just as I had seen my dad do, and inhaled. I almost vomited. It was the worst experience in my short life. I began choking and gagging and my vision got all hazy, I hated it and never intend to do it ever again) I've tried sugar. Between the two I believe cigarettes pose the highest risk of health problems and serves no point but to "Calm the nerves.". Sugar is not an addiction and (generally) not habit forming and only causes you to gain weight which can be excercised off. It may also have some other health affects, but I don't think they're comparable to those of cigarettes.

My name wouldn't go on that petition.

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Robust

It would be difficult to name any consumable product more detrimental to the general health than that of the refined sugar in the cheesecake of our hostess.

Not at all difficult, tobacco is not only detrimental to the smoker but also to those around him. How many people can you name that are affected by 'second hand sugar'?

[Biochemist]

Originally Posted by Robust

It would be difficult to name any consumable product more detrimental to the general health than that of the refined sugar in the cheesecake of our hostess.

Actually, even in cheescake, the most deleterious component is probably the saturated fat, not the sugar. Fishteacher, is correct in noting that refined sugar is reasonably harmless in moderation.

As a side note, addiciton per se is not dangerous. Cigarettes are harmful because of direct toxicity to tissues, not because of the addiction potential.

I agree, however, that vice taxes (cigarettes, alcohol) are inappropriate unless the tax is used to directly offset the societal costs engendered by the specific vices. Cigarettes are (oddly) an economic benefit to society as a whole, since they decrease the net cost of health care for those who smoke. Alcohol is not in that category, but the taxes collected on alcohol are not used to offset societal costs of drinking (loss of lives from DUIs, loss of personal productivity due to alcoholism, etc).

[Dark Mind]

Originally Posted by C1ay

Not at all difficult, tobacco is not only detrimental to the smoker but also to those around him. How many people can you name that are affected by 'second hand sugar'?

Actually, probably a lot. How many people do you think get a craving for a candy bar by seeing someone else with one every day, and then go out and get one themselves, possibly hooking someone who sees them with it. I know this isn't exactly second hand sugar, but it doesn't even really exist , and this is as close an example as I could get to comparing it to cigarettes.

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by Biochemist

I agree, however, that vice taxes (cigarettes, alcohol) are inappropriate unless the tax is used to directly offset the societal costs engendered by the specific vices.

That I agree with. I have always referred to them as discriminatory taxes because they literally discriminate against the users. We might as well reinstate the tea tax levied by the queen

[Biochemist]

Originally Posted by C1ay

That I agree with. I have always referred to them as discriminatory taxes because they literally discriminate against the users.

I would like to think that tax jurisdictions tax these products because they would like to make society "better". But I think actually it is really only a slimey way to get cash for the public coffers. The tea tax was a pretty good analogy, C1ay.

[Dark Mind]

Why that is something that has pissed off people for generations, and will continue to for many more unless you act soon. You can change something if you want to bad enough.

[Biochemist]

Originally Posted by Robust

...It would be difficult to name any consumable product more detrimental to the general health than that of the refined sugar in the cheesecake of our hostess...

I should probably admit my bias on this. I don't smoke (other than an occasional cigar) but I LOVE cheesecake. I make a pretty good one.