The big question is, what benefits do the citizens of the United States receive from a ban on soda? Well to be honest, according to research, not many.  Mayor Bloomberg seems to believe that discarding soda drinks larger in size than 16 fluid ounces will cure the modern-day obesity issue in the United States.  Obesity is in fact a serious health problem, but the soda ban, unfortunately, will not solve that issue and people will continue to overdrink soda no matter what.  

People in the United States will make their own choices on what to consume regardless of bans put in place.  Americans that are already overweight/obese will continue to drink what they want and when they want it.  For instance, people that are affected by this ban may make excuses why they are not healthy.  They may claim “it's because of how large the sodas are”  but unfortunately for them, they make the choice to be unhealthy.  Additionally, plenty of Americans consume a variety of sugary and unhealthy foods and drinks all the time.  Simply removing soda will not stop the consumption of sugar.  Americans consume unhealthy foods like ice cream, fast food, takeaway pizzas, sugar-packed bakery items and so much more.  This ban is not only very controversial, it’s very dull-witted.

There are many other factors that cause obesity aside from soda consumption.  Sugar isn't the only thing that causes people to become overweight.  Due to the sickening amount of sugar in sodas, banning them will actually bring down obesity numbers and it could show people how unhealthy these products actually are. Unfortunately, this still won't change the majority opinion on soda.   If the mayor wanted to solve obesity once and for all, he would have banned every unhealthy consumable substance.  If a food/drink ban is put out, it should ban everything, not just soda.  

Last but not least, Mayor Bloomberg’s ban strips away our country's most valued and respected right.  Freedom.  Bloomberg expects us to let the government control what we are allowed to drink.  Some citizens might believe that the soda ban is helping when in fact, they are giving up their own constitutional rights.  If the soda ban was allowed, I can imagine many more bans on unhealthy foods will be created, taking us further and further away from the freedom that we fought for.  This, in my opinion, is absolutely unfair and unconstitutional.  We as free American citizens should have the right to choose what we eat and drink.  

To conclude, The New York soda ban will not resolve the issue of obesity due to the simple fact that people will find ways around the ban.  Some people may disagree with my opinion due to the fact that large sodas are unhealthy and a ban makes sense at first.  Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg's solution is proven incorrect because there are other factors that cause obesity.  Further research needs to be concluded before the obesity issue can try to be solved again.