FAN Bulletin 984
 
July 8,  2008

Dear Supporter,

We lose in Louisiana.

Despite the hundreds of messages sent to Governor Jindal - both from inside Louisiana and from around the world - he has signed the bill (SB 312) which brings mandatory fluoridation to that state. I am afraid our arguments about how unfairly the bill was slipped through the legislature with hardly a citizen in the state knowing about it - and how unwise it is to subject a whole population, especially children, to a toxic substance on a daily basis at levels which are over 200 times the level in mothers’ milk, fell on deaf ears. If Jindal has any intentions of running for higher office he might live to regret his lack of leadership on this matter.

But our heartfelt thanks to all of you who tried - many times - to get this message through to the Governor.

The take-home lesson is that we must never let the pro-fluoridation lobbyists get so far again before we find out about it. We need a better early warning system and we need to put in place and expand the teams (networks) of people in each state which are ready to spring into action the moment the threat becomes apparent. If you want to be part of the network in your state please let us know. Please email me at paul@fluoridealert.org and Carol Kopf nyscof@aol.com, who has kindly agreed to help coordinate this network building in each state. Expanding and organizing these networks will be an important part of our strategizing at our third FAN conference in Toronto, August 10-11.

If we are successful then the promoters may well look back on Louisiana as a battle won, but a defeat in the overall battle for the decent opinion of humankind. After all what kind of public health policy has to be conducted by stealth, instead of open debate?

Thank you again to all those who tried to win this uphill battle and everything else you do to end this foolish practice.

Paul Connett

PS: Is anyone planning to drive to the FAN conference? We would like to try to help people get rides and share gas expenses if possible.

We are also still looking for donations to help get some deserving and active members to this conference. Money is tight right now so any contribution to these travel expenses would be a very important way you could support this effort. You can make your tax-deductible donation through the donate button on our web page or by sending a check to FAN, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617. Please make checks out to AEHSP (conference help).