A Tax on Many Soft Drinks Sets Off a Spirited Debate.

The Paterson administration's proposal for an 18 percent tax on sugary sodas and juice drinks -- an effort that state officials said would reduce obesity while raising more than $400 million a year for health programs -- has already touched off a vigorous debate among New Yorkers, nutrition experts and officials from the beverage industry, which vowed to fight the proposal. The 18 percent ''obesity tax,'' as it has been called, is part of a broader budget proposal announced on Tuesday, would be on top of existing sales taxes and would apply to nondiet sodas and fruit drinks containing less than 70 percent natural fruit juice, including ''-ades, punches and certain fruit nectars,'' as the budget proposal put it. The tax, one of few of its kind in the nation, would not apply to bottled water, diet sodas, coffee, tea or milk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]