In just a few minutes, the Portland City Council will open an hours-long hearing on a policy change that’s already a fait accompli: the fluoridation of Portland’s water. The hearing is such a big deal that, according to the Oregonian (which rents space from the city for an office on the first floor of city hall), crowds of would-be speakers started lining up this morning in hopes of hectoring the council.
We’ll see how this thing goes. There are well-reasoned and smart people on both sides of the debate, but also some who, let’s be honest, are neither. And I agree that it’s worth having a good public discussion over the sped-up timetable now sought by Commissioner Randy Leonard and whether that’s a blow to democracy or some dramatic thing like that.
But first, as a primer, I’d like to point everyone to an exhaustive FAQ that Mayor Sam Adams posted on his website earlier this week, explaining his decision to say “yes.”
Here’s a taste of the post’s reasonableness:
“Where does fluoride come from, and how do we know it’s safe?”
Fluoride used in drinking water is tested for toxins, monitored, and certified annually. It must meet American Water Works Associaion (AWWA) and National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) standards for purity, which are stricter than pharmaceutical grade. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates fluoride additives in drinking water, and has had a Memorandum of Understanding with the Food & Drug Administration since 1979 recognizing this authority.
Fluoride is manufactured through a process that separates fluoride from phosphorite rock. Phosphorus is later used by the fertilizer industry for fertilizer. Fluoride is not a byproduct of fertilizer.
It’s compelling. It actually shows he considered, and didn’t dismiss, negative studies. And maybe it’ll convince a few more people that fluoridation isn’t the terrible thing opponents are making it out to be.
Why can’t we just ban sugar?
Because then there would be a War Against Sugar. And the Mexican Wedding Cookie cartels would bring even more violence to border towns.
Portland: Where people who regularly drink themselves stupid on PBR are scared of flouride.
Because most things use Aspartame in place of sugar, even though it’s much, much worse for you than sugar itself. We should be banning Aspartame before we even think of banning sugar.
“Adding fluoride to drinking water has been shown to be beneficial to everyone,” Sam says.
So there’s NOT A SINGLE PERSON in the city who might be adversely affected by exposure to more fluoride, regardless of medical condition? Will you put that in writing, Sam?
“Portlanders also have a right to collect signatures and bring the issue to the ballot,” Sam says.
Yes, and rushing fluoridation through before that can happen will ensure that the maximum amount of public money is wasted if the citizens vote the way they have three times before. Nice plan.
@John-Michael Glenn – Great thinking!
No one needs sugar or Aspartame for medical reasons, and they’re bad for your health. Let people go out to McMinnville for their chocolate bars and soda.
@Todd – he did put that in writing.
“fluoridation isn’t the terrible thing” doesn’t sound as objective as I expected you to be on this, Denis. 🙁
@#7: Objectivity is not the same thing as taking your side, or assiduously avoiding taking sides at all.
@fid_ax: Maybe the City Attorney would like to as well.
Basic oral hygiene like toothbrushing, plus a proper diet, prevents %100 of tooth decay without forcing millions of perfectly healthy adults to ingest a controversial chemical agains their will for a condition that the vast majority of us do not have. Do not violate my human right to control what I ingest. Do not cut me and the entire public of Portland out of the decision of whether to contaminate a publicly owned treasure.
The power tripping bureaucrats who are pushing this through should all be criminally investigated to determine where money is changing hands to make this happen so quickly despite massive public outcry and a consistent historical record of Portlander’s voting against fluoridation.
Government studies concluding that fluoride is dangerous or ineffective, Including studies from the CDC:
http://www.nofluoride.com/Government_Studies.cfm
Take responsibility for your own teeth. If that’s not good enough, maybe the city should spend $5 million on oral hygeine education and access for low income families and making fluoride tablets available for those who CHOOSE to ingest more “fluoride” (what will be added to our water is the industrial by-product hexafluoroscilic acid, commonly mis-characterized as pure fluorine)
It is my human right to control what I ingest especially when it comes to medications. For my city government to attempt to force me and the rest of the unwilling public of portland to take a controversial medication for a condition the vast majority of us don’t have at a completely uncontrolled dose is authoritarian and frightening. For the city government to do this while ACTIVELY PREVENTING THE PUBLIC FROM HAVING INPUT is criminal and the people who are doing this will have a hard time living in Portland after this. There will be civil suits and hopefully a criminal investigation of how much money changed hands between Randy Leonard, Sam Adams, Nick Fish, and their partners in this plan to abruptly force an invasive, disgustingly arrogant policy on the public of Portland.
Communities like Gresham and others who contract with the City for Bull Run water and who were excluded from the secret lobbying process (and who found out about the flurodation plan via news reports, just as the rest of the population did) have a legitimate complaint. The process was furtive and sloppy, probably because Portland voters have turned down fluoridation measures many times before. Now it’s clear that Commissioner Leonard wants to fast track fluoridation so that there is no way people served by the Bull Run can do more than come and speak helplessly at a hurry-up-and-get-it-over-with public hearing preceding a slam dunk vote.
What next? I suppose if enough of the public is angry, upset or depressed by what happens Mr. Leonard (who makes all the decisions regarding our water supply, per recent quotes from the Water Bureau itself, which wasn’t initially aware of the full extent of his agenda) will decide that we need Valium in our water. And – once again – we will probably have nothing to say about it.