Recently a debate has erupted in Wichita,Kansas. The city council has decided that there should be a vote on the fluoridation of Wichita tap water, and that they have openly stated being in favor of the process, and have published a ‘fact sheet’ that states that the fluoride is good for the populace, and mentions its benefits.
This of course erupted the usual age old debate that has been going on between public health officials and conspiracy theorists, about the possible side effects of drinking fluor in your daily drinking water. And hence the controversy.
Fluoridation of water has been standard practice in America since the 1970s, and nearly three quarters of American homes have fluoride in their water. The public health officials say that the amount of fluoride in the water is well below harmful levels, and the only side effect is a 38% drop in new cavity formations. Those who object would pose some questions, as to what that level is, how will this potentially harmful additive be regulated, who will do the regulating, and what sort of guarantee do we have that this substance will not be abused. These questions are valid, and many times there is no response to them, simply a dismissal of the people asking the questions as nutcases and paranoiacs.
On the other hand, the over all records for fluoridation of water have so far not shown any sort of harmful correlations whatsoever. With a record like that, it does seem to be a little superfluous to be worrying and accusing government officials of conspiring against the lives of citizens.
The problem with all of this is that people do not trust their governments, and thus any move on the part of a government will result in resentment by some of its constituents, as some of those constituents resent the government to begin with. Even if fluoride does have medical use in drinking water (which, if properly regulated, it without a doubt does), it would not matter if its use is being advocated by someone that you are sure has ulterior motives.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi….
