TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Both House and Senate lawmakers have passed what they call the “farm bill.” It takes up a lot of issues, but one section is the most discussed. Should fluoride be in drinking water? And who can decide that?
From National Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to state surgeon general Dr. Joseph Radapop, the trend to remove fluoride from drinking water has become a popular debate. At the state capitol on Tuesday, lawmakers sailed back and forth about and against fluoride.
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“Does the government have the right to put drugs, drugs and chemicals into your body that you disagree with by a simple majority vote?” state legislator Danny Alvarez (R-Hilsboro County).
Alvarez, sponsoring the bill, said rather than opposed the benefits that fluoride has on the body, “What we argue is that we cannot force you to do it or force a simple majority to have other drugs that are likely to be good for you in the future.”
But Democrats in the aisle criticize Republicans’ motivations, with politics overturning common sense, pointing to concerns about rising health costs and worsening health disparities among people with less access to dental care.
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“There’s nothing friendly about the cavity. There’s nothing friendly about the cavity. Trust me, you don’t want to make this decision statewide. You don’t want to make this decision for everyone in the state. You want to quit control at the local level.”
“When you force local governments to remove this from the water system, you are very concerned that you are ignoring the will of local constituents who want to keep it in the water system,” state Assemblyman Anna V. Escamani (D-Orlando).
Even with debate over the move, the bill still passed 88-27.
Florida will be the second state after Utah, which bans fluoride, if signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
