Paul Sassone

When the legal smoke clears Cook County doubtless will have a soft drink tax.

The measure as originally proposed would impose a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on all “sweetened beverages,” including soft drinks, diet soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit drinks that are not 100 percent fruit juice.

Tony Preckwinkle, Cook County board president, warned that without the tax the county would be forced to cut health and public safety services.

Beyond revenue, she said, the tax would have health benefits. By making soft drinks more costly, people might buy and drink fewer sweetened beverages. And such beverages are a cause of obesity and

illiness, such as diabetes.

This is a pretty good argument. The stratospheric cost of cigarettes — due to taxes — has probably caused many a smoker to kick that dangerous habit.

So, the soft drink tax can be seen as an altruistic effort by the county to make us more healthy.

Such an approach to taxation opens the door a crack to taxes on other items or services government may define as harmful to our health.

Potato chips — oily, salty, high in calories. Can contribute to obesity and diabetes. A penny an ounce tax?

Candy bars — sugary, high in calories. Can contribute to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.

And what about … . Well, you get the idea.

I am not advocating such an approach to taxation.

But, I ask: Might not what is good for county government be good for county residents?

Through the soft-drink tax we pay the county to improve our health.

This saves the county money when it comes to providing health care.

The county has to provide less of it because we are more healthy from abstaining from soft drinks.

So, what if we eliminated some other of our harmful behavior? Would this not save the county money?

Thus, while not a tax, exactly, I believe the county should reward us for eliminating harmful or unhealthy behavior that is costly, or potentially costly, to the county.

How about we Cook County residents receive a penny for every ounce of candy we don’t eat?

Turns out you can put a price on health.

–You can put a price on health–