The state, in part by following the advice of some well-meaning but misguided health officials, has told us this tax will reduce obesity. Yet, there is no authoritative health study to justify this claim. Public health policy must be driven by clinical research, not flimsy science used to satisfy a political agenda.Proponents point to studies that correlate soda consumption with obesity. Scientists know, however, that correlation itself does not imply causation. The gold standard in medicine to prove causation is the prospective randomized controlled trial, and presently, four such studies were unsuccessful.