Hands Off My Dr. Pepper

Several years ago I wrote a column about kicking my Dr. Pepper habit. That was during a heady period when I quit.

I don't write about being soda-free anymore. Because I'm not. Hey, isn't relapse part of recovery?

That said, I have mixed feelings about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban the purchase of sugary soft drinks with food stamps.

I'm sorry some food stamps recipients don't want the government telling them what to eat. That's what happens when you join a federal program. Besides, food stamps already come with lots of strings attached, what's one more?

The program is aimed at helping needy families buy food. As Bloomberg notes, if sugary soft drinks are excluded, food stamp recipients will have more money to spend on nutritious items.

Still, I worry that something else is going on here. This looks like another effort by health-food zealots - and Bloomberg is one, even though he's apparently as addicted as anyone else to junk food - to try to tell the rest of us what we can and cannot eat or drink.

The mayor and other nanny government types are busy waging war on fast foods, soft drinks and even salt. Several years ago lawsuits against burger joints - because they supposedly caused obesity - were the rage. Now cash-starved politicians are eyeing junk-food taxes.

I don't care if the feds decide that food stamps shouldn't be used for sodas. But government should keep its hands off my Dr. Pepper.

I bought it. I'm drinking it.

A version of this originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on October 15, 2010.