Fighting obesity, Oakland puts soda tax on ballot

In this 2014 photo, bottles of Pepsi are displayed in a food truck’s cooler in San Francisco. In this 2014 photo, bottles of Pepsi are displayed in a food truck’s cooler in San Francisco. Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Fighting obesity, Oakland puts soda tax on ballot 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Oakland City Council voted unanimously to place a soda tax on the November ballot, a penny-per-ounce revenue stream that could raise up to $12 million per year to aid in efforts to fight obesity.

Oakland would join Berkeley, which in 2014 became the first Bay Area city to adopt such a tax. Sales of soda and other sugary beverages have fallen in Berkeley, a result of not only the higher cost of the drinks but also increased education around the health dangers connected to sugar, said Oakland Vice Mayor Annie Campbell Washington.

Like Berkeley, she said, Oakland needs a dedicated revenue stream to combat the big-money marketing of soda and sports drinks.

If voters approve the tax, the money raised would go into the city’s general fund, and officials said the idea is to earmark it to pay for health and education programs in the community and in schools. The measure requires the city to create an advisory board to recommend how to spend the money.

No opposing speakers

Washington believes the measure will pass with the required majority vote. More than two dozen speakers addressed the City Council before Tuesday night’s vote to support the tax, while no opposition was voiced.

“We have that support because I believe the community recognizes the horrific health toll that sugar is having, especially on our African American and Latino populations,” Washington said. “This is a public health crisis.”

The American Beverage Association, however, has fought soda taxes and says their value is reflected in dozens of failed attempts to pass them across the country.

“People do not want the government in their grocery carts so they overwhelmingly oppose taxes on grocery items,” the association said in March after the Richmond City Council declined to pursue a ballot measure.

“Soda taxes also hurt small businesses that are the backbone of Main Streets across America and the workers they employ. And these taxes cause the greatest harm to those who can least afford them.”

Another try in S.F.

Supporters of a San Francisco soda tax are also looking toward November, collecting signatures to place a measure on the ballot. A previous effort in 2014 failed, garnering 55 percent when it needed support from two-thirds of voters because it would have directed revenue to specific programs — in this case physical education and nutrition programs for children.

In Oakland, the measure would tax distributors of soda and other sweetened beverages, including the syrup and powder used to make fountain drinks, with the cost likely passed on to customers. Alcohol, 100-percent fruit juice, baby formula and meal-replacement drinks would be among products excluded from the tax.

New pot laws

In a long meeting that stretched into Wednesday morning, the Oakland council also unanimously passed broad new laws regulating and taxing the city’s multimillion-dollar medical marijuana industry, which potentially could raise the number of licensed cannabis-related businesses in the city from eight to nearly 100.

Several local residents expressed concern before the vote that the licensing process would cut out people of color, who they said were more likely to have marijuana-related criminal convictions due to disparities in drug enforcement.

“It’s very important when we’re implementing policies, that those polices reflect a reparations-type analysis,” said Tsion Lencho, a co-founder of Super Nova, an Oakland organization for minority women in the cannabis industry.

Councilwoman Desley Brooks introduced amendments striking language that gave priority to would-be dispensary owners who live in areas with high unemployment rates. Instead, half of all new dispensary permits must go to people who meet requirements of an “equity permit program.”

Qualified applicants must be Oakland residents who have either lived for at least two years in designated areas where marijuana-related arrests have been highly concentrated, mostly in East Oakland, or individuals who were incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes in Oakland in the past 10 years.

“When you look at this industry,” Brooks said, “for the last four years, people of color have been going to jail for the main things we have allowed white men primarily to get rich for.”

Jill Tucker and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @JennaJourno