Gov. DeSantis wants fluoride out of water

Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t holding back on fluoride in water supplies, expressing the belief that it’s “forced medication.”

“When you’re forcing it into the water supply, that’s not really giving people the choice. If people want to be able to purchase fluoridated water or do more, then they already have the ability to do it,” DeSantis said Tuesday in Tallahassee.

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo had previously said putting fluoride in water was “insane,” given the compound’s “caustic” nature and the fact that toothpaste and other consumer products contain it and give people the option to self-administer. He recommended against community water fluoridation last year.

DeSantis said Tuesday that he expects the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to “lean in the direction of Ladapo under Bobby Kennedy,” presumably offering similar guidance.

“People can get fluoride by brushing their teeth,” DeSantis said Tuesday, echoing Ladapo’s belief that “cavities wouldn’t be an issue” for people if sugar weren’t added to food.

Ladapo spoke out against fluoride last year as “health malpractice” in part because of “the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children.”

DeSantis expressed worry Tuesday about the compound’s impact on “younger people than maybe 12” years of age.

State guidance may be coming.

The “Florida Farm Bill,” championed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, seeks to remove water additives from municipal supplies.

Pending a change in state law, cities and counties are deciding on fluoride in an example of home rule.

On Monday, Lakeland Commissioners voted to reverse the nearly 45-year-old practice, joining a growing contingent of local governments that have done so.

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