In a recent effort to lower the obesity rates in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg created a law to ban the sale of drinks larger than 16 ounces in food and service establishments. Recently, the proposed law was rejected by Judge Milton Tingling after multiple corporations sued the city.

Many applauded Judge Tingling when he shut down the ban; New Yorkers pointed accusing fingers at Bloomberg and stood by their freedom of choice. But Mayor Bloomberg might be right. America has a problem with overindulging in fattening food and beverages. According to a 2012 survey taken by Nation Master, America is ranked No. 1 in obesity rates. The new soda-ban law would benefit the health of city-goers, and possibly branch out to other cities and states of America to help lower the statistic as a country. Bloomberg wasn’t banning the sale of soda; he was banning the sale of the Double Big Gulp filled with enough soda to last someone an entire day.

The new law would slowly reverse the increasing obesity rates and guide other changes for health awareness in NYC; however, what would stop a person from simply purchasing two drinks rather than one? Not only is a New Yorker easily able to avoid the law, but purchasing multiple sugary drinks would have a negative effect on his or her health. Consuming two medium-sized drinks is worse than consuming one large drink. In most cases, it seems that the law would be ignored. “I feel that it’s unconstitutional,” says senior Shannan O’Neil. “Even though it is unhealthy to have an excessive amount of soda, it won’t stop people from buying more.”

Mayor Bloomberg stated that the judge was “in error” in his decision; he will not back down, despite the ruling made by the court, and is confident that that it will be reversed in due time.