California State Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) introduced a bill that will implement a tax on sodas and sweetened drinks.

This is a move to encourage Californians and their children to drink healthier alternatives, like water, juice and milk, according to the senator's press release.

Senator Florez introduced this bill to curb obesity and help the state's deficit, which is around $6.3 billion, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

The tax is expected to affect Cal State Fullerton and its students, who are the target audience for drinks like Monster and Red Bull, according to the bill.

"Any kind of revenue that could be gained from taxing would be appropriate," said Andrele King, a 24-year-old political science major. "And I think that should be used to compensate the decrease in the education budget. They should go as far as to make weed legal and tax that too."

King said he would continue to drink soda and energy drinks, despite the tax.

"Just being a college student I would have to decrease (my intake) and I would still probably drink (soda), but not like I do right now," King said.

But Amanda Rumble, a 20-year-old American studies major, doesn't think the tax will be effective at stopping people from drinking soda, unless it's very substantial.

"I think it depends on how much they really tax," Rumble said. "If people are addicted to drinking soda, they will drink it anyway."

Senator Florez said in a Feb. 17 press conference that the revenue from the tax would go into a fund to prevent obesity and would eventually lower obesity rates, which are at an all-time high.

"We have a health epidemic in California … and the health of our future generations demands we address it," Florez said. "Diabetes, obesity and heart disease should not be the legacy we leave for our children and theirs."

The legislation proposes taxing regular, non-diet soda and sugar-based drinks, such as energy drinks, sweet teas and sports drinks. Diet soda isn't included because its artificial sweeteners are calorie-free, according to the bill. Water, milk and juice manufacturers will also be tax-free.

Daniela Rubin, an assistant professor of kinesiology, thinks the bill will only work with a large tax. Otherwise, she said, consumers will continue to buy soda.

“I think that with any type of specialty food, people will still consume soda. I don't think people will go away from drinking sodas because they are a little bit more expensive,” Rubin said. “They need to be very, very expensive in order to not drink it.”

The bill said Californians consume about 172 to 175 calories per day from sweetened beverages, and 10 to 15 percent of children and young adult's daily caloric intake is from these drinks.

Rubin thinks the tax should target soda instead of simply sugar.

“Some sodas, depending on what they're made with, can be pretty harmful to the developing of bones. Not taxing the (diet) sodas might not be that helpful because of soda consumption,” Rubin said. “From a health perspective, it's not just the sugar consumption, it's the soda consumption.”

The drink manufacturer will have to pay one penny per teaspoon of sugar to California. The revenue of this tax will go into a new fund, called the Childhood Obesity Fund, according to the bill.

Then, according to Florez and his legislation, the increased revenue from the sales tax, due to the increased price of the soda, will help solve California's budget crisis.

The California Medical Association and the Dental Health Foundation support this bill, as well as many other states and legislators.

Colorado and the city of Chicago already have similar legislature.