Katie Couric's Notebook: Soda Tax

Some leading health experts are calling for a sin tax on the surgary beverages Americans drink, like it's going out of style.

They say that a tax of one cent per ounce on soft drinks sweetened with sugar could be a major source of revenue for health care reform - pulling in nearly 15 billion dollars a year.

It may also be a way to combat obesity. UCLA researchers found that people who drink soda are 27 times more likely to be overweight. A regular, daily soda drinker can consume - get this - 39 pounds of sugar a year just from those drinks. Gulp!

President Obama thinks the tax is an idea worth exploring, and some lawmakers say taxes on cigarettes have reduced smoking and raised revenues.

Without a doubt, the idea is bubbling up in Washington and it could soon give soda companies some major gas pains.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.