The ever-controversial soda tax debate rears its head once more as San Francisco becomes the latest city to consider the option. 

According to the SF Gate, City Supervisor Scott Weiner is introducing ballot legislation that, if voted through, would tax sugary beverages like soda. Money made via the tax would go directly to funding health programs for kids.

Wiener issued a press release on Monday detailing the proposal, which will be added to the November 2014 ballot if successful. The legislation would introduce a two-cents-per-ounce tax, increasing the cost on an average can of soda by 24 cents. Wiener said the legislation would raise about $31 million a year. 

"We are experiencing an epidemic of health problems caused by sugary beverages, including diabetes and obesity afflicting adults, teenagers, and even young children, and we have a responsibility to act to confront this escalating public health challenge," Wiener said in the release.

A 2010 UC San Francisco study found a nationwide sweetened drink tax of just a penny per ounce would avert nearly 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes and 26,000 deaths over the next decade. A statewide Field Poll released earlier this year found that 68 percent of voters would support a soda tax if the proceeds went toward improving nutrition and fitness programs in schools.

"While researchers, physicians, and community health advocates have made tremendous strides in educating the public on the negative health effects of sugary beverages, they agree that more must be done, and they are making urgent requests for intervention from policy leaders," Wiener said.

After conducting a study, Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco believes a soda tax could save lives. 

"We concluded that adding a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages could potentially prevent 240,000 cases of diabetes per year, and additionally avoid 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 deaths over the next decade," she explained

It will need support from a majority of the Board of Supervisors to be placed on the November 2014 ballot, and then from two-thirds of city voters to pass.

"I try to cross my t's and dot my i's, and I wouldn't pursue this if I didn't think it had a chance," Wiener told the San Francisco Chronicle. "There will be a big fight the beverage industry will try to pull all the shenanigans they have pulled elsewhere but we have a strong coalition behind this. San Francisco is always at the forefront of public health issues and trying to find innovative ways to keep the city healthy."

Mexico is currently in the process of creating a junk food tax law, while American states and cities such as Colorado, Washington, and New York have all considered, and some have implemented, soda taxes.