USA - Mention fluoride, and fight's on

Bills to bring fluoridation to Oregon cities with at least 10,000 residents have come up -- and stalled -- in the past three legislative sessions. This session, Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, introduced Senate Bill 33, which echoes the previous bills. But the bill has stalled in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Morrisette, with no hearing scheduled.
Morrisette says no other committee member supports approving the bill for a floor vote. While some proponents believe the House and Senate would pass the bill if it ever reached the floor, he says it's tough to get such a bill out of committee.
"You immediately draw a roomful of people, some who think it is poison and others who think it is the best thing that can happen to people." Morrisette says. "I'm in the middle ground."
Opponents, including a vocal minority of doctors and dentists, raise a variety of concerns. Some say the mainstream pro-fluoridation consensus in the dental profession is based more on conventional wisdom than on hard science. Others say mass fluoridation unfairly trumps individual choice. Still others argue against fluoridation on environmental grounds, saying the health benefits are not sufficient to justify adding a chemical to clean water.
Almost every major environmental group in Oregon, including the Sierra Club's state chapter, opposes fluoridation, says Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper.