FAN Bulletin #971

June 13,  2008

Dear Supporter,

Over the last few days we have had one major victory ? keeping fluoridation out of the  Isle of Man ? and one big loss. On Tuesday, June 10, the city council of San Diego, California voted unanimously (some against their will) to fluoridate the city even though citizens had voted against fluoridation in two initiatives. We will discuss the peculiar circumstances of this vote in a future bulletin. For those who wish to read a quick account, see: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20080611-0701-1bo11fluoride.html

Meanwhile, even though yesterday the Louisiana House of Representatives voted 80 to 16 to impose statewide fluoridation, there are two small glimmers of hope. First, the bill (SB 312) must go back to the Senate because the House made some changes (see http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/politics/19879039.html) and that gives us the chance to educate the Senators on this issue.

In light of this development, FAN has created a new Online message (see: http://tinyurl.com/3s4fmc). This time the message is being directed at Louisiana’s State Senators. These State Senators voted unanimously in favor of an earlier version of the bill, but that was at a time when they probably had not heard anything negative about fluoridation. At the very least, sending this online letter will make them aware of the other side of fluoridation. Some may be disturbed that they had been seriously duped on this policy. If we can get just one Senator to realize this, it could make a huge difference.

We still face an uphill climb. But never say die! We know that our efforts to date have thrown the Louisiana Dental Association and their lobbyists into a frenzy! So much so that they had to abandon their “stealthy” approach. More about that in the next bulletin.

To send an online message (the one there or the one you wish to substitute) to the Louisiana State Senators, please use our online message  machinery at: http://tinyurl.com/3s4fmc

Thank you again to all of you for being part of sending 1200 messages to the House Representatives.  Without you the vote may have been 96 to 0 instead of 80 to 16!

Meanwhile, note the excellent editorial from a citizen from Monroe, LA at http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080613/OPINION02/806130306 He has certainly got the right message.

Paul  Connett