Courts in New York City recently halted the progress of Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s plan to ban sugary beverages over 16 ounces from New York City restaurants, claiming that the ban, which would not apply to convenience and grocery stores, was “arbitrary and capricious.” Some judges speculated that this kind of restrictive law would mean giving the state health department “virtually limitless authority.” And sure, it does seem a bit “capricious” to regulate the size of a New Yorker’s Mountain Dew, when he or she could simply walk down the block to the nearest 7-Eleven for a Big Gulp.

But perhaps there is method behind this “soda ban” madness, other than a desire to ruin children’s birthday parties forever. Nutritionists agree: Sugar consumption in this country is a growing problem. Recent evidence shows that of nine New York neighborhoods with the highest obesity levels, the three neighborhoods with the least obesity have also shown the lowest sugary drink consumption, and though the exact cause of these obesity levels is up for debate, a study of 10,000 children at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill revealed that “sugar-sweetened beverages are the prime culprit” for high obesity.

Americans consume almost 100 pounds of sugar every year — that’s about three times as much as we should. Together, soft drinks and fruit drinks make up over 42 percent of our sugar intake; in fact, the average American drinks 53 gallons of these drinks every year. As sugar consumption has increased, so has the number of Americans living with obesity, a medical condition proven to cause heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. One-third of the population in the United States is obese, as well as 20 percent of young people.

This seems like enough to convince us that excess sugar is something we need to worry about. But is it enough to make us consider sugar regulation?

North America has nurtured an obsession with sugar since its arrival in 1492, which led to the rapid development of sugarcane plantations, spurred the rise of both slavery and income in the New World, and ultimately helped to finance America’s victory in the Revolution. These days, “white gold” doesn’t have such a great reputation; some scientists say that sugar, the additive we find in almost everything, from whole wheat bread to Coca-Cola, is nothing more than slow poison.

Dr. Robert Lustig, leading researcher on childhood obesity, has pointed out that fructose, the particular kind of sugar molecule responsible for making things sweet, is actually a toxin. Fructose is converted into fat when not immediately metabolized in the liver, and regular fructose intake is the main cause of fatty liver disease leading to obesity — which we know leads to heart disease, America’s No. 1 killer. In this way, sugar could be considered highly toxic — killing slowly, through consistent exposure.

“Ultimately, this is a public health crisis, and when there’s a public health crisis you have to do big things and you have to do them across the board,” Lustig suggests. “Tobacco and alcohol are perfect examples. … I think that sugar belongs in this exact same wastebasket.”

With a 2010 World Heart Federation study revealing that more people die every year from noncommunicable diseases like heart disease and type two diabetes than from infectious disease, it seems that government regulation is the solution. After all, we regulate alcohol and cigarettes with taxes because, even though we acknowledge their harmful health effects, we don’t outlaw them; we simply manage their use.

Dr. Joel Forman, member of the New York City Board of Health, said he couldn’t imagine “not acting on another problem that is killing 5,000 people per year.” Fellow board member Dr. Deepthiman Gowda also defended the decision, saying, “The same way that we’ve become acclimatized and normalized to sodas that are 32 ounces, we’ve started to become acclimatized to the prevalence of obesity in our society,” adding that as a country, “… We have to act on this.”

Before labeling Mayor Bloomberg’s “soda ban” plan as illogical or “arbitrary,” it’s time to look at the facts. Sugar has been linked with obesity; scientists agree on this — and so do politicians. Sugar may very well be acting as a slow toxin, with devastating effects that kill more Americans than infectious diseases every single year. Bloomberg is absolutely right to impose regulation on this sweet poison, as we do with cigarettes, alcoholic beverage, and other known killers; Americans need to get our sugar addiction under control, and whether regulation takes the form of a ban on sugary drinks, regulation at the FDA level, or another stopgap measure, we need to start taking sugar seriously — now.

Elaine Godfrey is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication and global resource systems from Burlington, Iowa.