Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is back in the spotlight after signing a statewide ban on fluoride in public drinking water, a controversial decision that’s likely to ignite strong responses from both supporters and critics of water fluoridation. With the stroke of his pen, DeSantis committed to the ban during an event in Miami, as NBC Miami reported.
Drawing applause from some concerned with medicinal consent and criticism from others worried about public health, DeSantis described the addition of fluoride to water supplies as forced medication, saying, "It's forced medication when they're jamming fluoride into your water supply. And they did it because you know, if you have fluoride it will help with dental. And I'm not saying that's not true but we have other ways where people can get access to fluoride, when you do this in the water supply, you're taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride." After the legislature gave the green light last week, the ban is set to kick in on July 1, as detailed by NBC Miami.
Joining DeSantis was Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has been a vocal critic of water fluoridation, lamenting what he perceives to be the implications for children's intellectual development and pregnant women's health. DeSantis told NBC Miami, "You don't even have to agree with that analysis but at the end of the day we should all agree that we want people to be able to make informed consent, have informed consent when it comes to these things." Notably, Florida joins Utah as the second state in the U.S. to implement such a ban.
Meanwhile, at the local level, this decision follows closely on the heels of Miami-Dade County commissioners' choice to override Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s veto to remove fluoride from the county’s water system. "We need to put the people of Florida first and that’s what signing this bill does,” DeSantis explained in a news conference reported by Local 10 News. The vote was an 8-4 split, signaling that the decision is far from unanimously supported.
Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia nearly fainted while speaking on the issue at the podium - an incident quickly brought under control as she was helped by attendees. Both the impact of this legislation and Senator Garcia's incident quickly became talking points across the state. As the July 1st effective date for the ban approaches, Florida's waters are set to be, in the words of DeSantis, "clean, safe, and medication-free."
