Fluoridation Gets Flushed on Election Day
 

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release was issued today by the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation:

Voters on November 6, 2001, rejected fluoridation in several U.S. cities despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by fluoridation proponents in public relations campaigns.  This adds to a growing list of cities that rallied against adding the claimed cavity-fighting fluoride to their water supplies.

According to newspaper accounts:

* On election day, Worcester, Massachusetts, residents renounced

fluoridation for the fifth time since the 1950's.  Fluoridation

proponents refused to debate but spent $400,000 trying to win this

referendum.  The victorious opposition spent only $5,196.

* Modesto, California, citizens rejected fluoridation for the second time,

shunning a $1 million grant offered by Fluoridation 2000, a statewide

group, to cover the cost of fluoridation equipment.  Fluoridation

proponents outspent opponents by over 10 to l.

* Flagstaff's, Arizona, electorate decisively turned down fluoridation for

the third time via mail-in ballots.

* Sixty two percent of Sutherlin, Oregon, voted against fluoridation on

election day.

* In Gilbert, Arizona, opponents of fluoridation, inspired by these

victories, plan to attack fluoridation again, which is slated to start

in Gilbert at the end of the month.

"People who study the issue, themselves, find out fluoridation's health risks far exceed any possible benefits and deprives individuals of their choice to be medicated," says Paul Connett, Ph.D., Coordinator, Fluoride Action Network and Professor of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University, N.Y.  "If your community fluoridates and you want it stopped, call us.  We can help you."

Some other places defeating fluoridation this year:

* January 2001 -- Willamina, Oregon, City Council says "no" to fluoride.

* March 2001 -- Norridgewock, Maine, votes down fluoridation.

* April 2001 -- City residents of McPherson, Kansas, rejected a

fluoridation proposal by a nearly 5-to-1 ratio. It was their third vote

against fluoridation.

* May 2001 -- Brewster, Massachusetts, said no thanks to fluoride in the

town's water systems.

* May 200l -- Harper, Kansas, citizens successfully petitioned against

fluoridation.

* June 2001 -- Eureka Springs, Arkansas, city officials followed water

customers' advice and rejected fluoridation.

* August 2001 -- Woods Cross, Utah, City Council said no thanks to

fluoridation after a citizens' group presented them with a petition to

opt out of a countywide fluoridation plan.

* September 2001 -- Goldendale, Washington, council members unanimously

rejected any proposal to add fluoride to the city's water supply

* October 2001 -- Centerville, Utah, City Council decided against

fluoridation.

* October 2001 -- White Salmon, Washington, City Council rejected

fluoridation.

In other countries:

* March 2001 -- Japan's Assembly of Kanra-machi, Gunma Prefecture,

rejected a fluoridation proposal.

* April 2001, Onehunga, New Zealand, voted two to one against fluoridation

* October 2001 -- Voters in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, ended

40 years of fluoridation.

On election day, 2000, 14 communities voted down fluoridation.

SOURCE  New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

CO:  New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

ST:  New York

IN:  HEA

SU:  LEG

11/12/2001 08:59 EST http://www.prnewswire.com