How do you change your city's ordinance to stop the fluoridation of the water supply?

Answer 1

First, you must establish that the fluoridation of the water is due to the city's ordinance, as opposed to State law.

Second, and assuming it is a local ordinance, you must determine what mechanism for repealing laws there exist. Sometimes it can be done by what is called a "referendum", other times only by the city council or assembly.

Third, if it is only by the council, you would have to convince one of the council members to introduce the measure for the repeal of the law. You would also need to assist him in convincing enough of the other council members that it would pass by a majority vote of the council. This would involve convincing enough of the city's residents that they would join in calling for the repeal.

Fourth, if you cannot convince a council member, but the mechanism for referendum exists, you must determine the requirements for placing that referendum on the ballot. That usually involves getting a certain number of signatures, usually expressed as a given percent of the city's population.

Fifth, you would then go about attempting to meet those requirements. As one person can rarely do it alone, you would need to hold meetings, gain supporters, build an organization, and have volunteers assist.

Sixth, you will fail anyway. Not for there being any large conspiracy, but because the anti-fluoridation movement is nothing new. In fact, it is so old that it is effectively dead. You see, while fluoride is an industrial waste, and while it can be used as an insecticide, in the doses they use it really does assist in preventing tooth decay.

This has led to a dramatically reduced rate of rotting teeth, false teeth, and in many cases, actual death from infected teeth. In other words, this time the government got it right, and Americans have some of the best and healthiest teeth in the world.

Remember, the great bulk of people who are not upper middle class do not have access to annual dentist visits, and go decades without seeing one. Yet while losing some or all of your teeth by the age of forty used to be normal, now it would be cause for wonder.

Also, after all these decades, there aren't any indicators or evidence of wholesale deaths due to fluoride poisoning. Or any lawsuits that have won by proving the wrongful death by fluoride poisoning of a loved one.

It is a non-issue. But you have the right to fight it, and now you know how.

(Note: Afterwards, this was edited to reflect that this may not be so much of a non-issue. The following is an additional opinion, and the opposite one.)

Regardless of who you have to lobby or influence, one of the best ways to start is by petitioning residents for two reasons 1) to show you have a huge number of supporters and 2) to educate people about the harmful effects of fluoridation which they don't have a clue about. You'll also find many people are just waiting for someone to lead them to where they want to go.

In several states, such as California, Connecticut and Illinois, fluoridation is state-mandated so a bill would have to be introduced to allow cities to make the choice or to ban fluoridation outright. In New York State, only the governing bodies that own the water companies can decide for or against fluoridation. Fluoridation was stopped recently by a town hall meeting by a vote of only those attending.

Sometimes faced with the exponential cost growth of fluoride chemicals and expense of replacing and/or repairing aging fluoridation equipment, governing bodies stop fluoridation on their own.

This is a very doable thing and many cities have rejected or reversed fluoridation because the citizens organized and petitioned the proper authorities to do so. See http://www.fluorideAction.Net/comunities.htm

In Austin Texas, one women just kept showing up at the city council meetings to educate her legislators about fluoridation's failures and it has grown in scope. See http://www.fluoridefreeaustin.com

Modern science indicates that ingesting fluoride does not reduce tooth decay. Fluoride hardens outer enamel by topical means alone - making fluoridation obsolete and out-dated. However, adverse effects occur upon ingestion. See http://www.FluorideAction.Net/health

After 60+ years of water fluoridation, tooth decay is a growing problem. In fact, in the last ten years untreated tooth decay has increased along with fluoride-overdose symptoms - dental fluorosis or discolored teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The problem today is access to dental care. US children have died from untreated tooth decay because most dentists refuse Medicaid and 130 million Americans don't have dental insurance.

Everyone needs to go to their city councils and start educating them about the harmful effects of adding fluoride into the water and the needless waste of millions of dollars annually that fluoridation costs taxpayers