On May 15th, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Florida Farm Bill” (Senate Bill 700), which contained a provision prohibiting the practice of water fluoridation throughout the state, a huge step forward for the nation and the biggest victory yet for our entire fluoridation-free movement.

The was a collaboration between the state Commissioner of Agriculture, Wilton Simpson, the state Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, M.D., M.P.H., and a host of bill sponsors from both the House and Senate. The legislation passed overwhelmingly out of several committees in both legislative bodies before being passed by a bi-partisan vote of 88-27 in the House and a bi-partisan 27-9 vote in the Senate.

How huge? Florida’s population is 23.8 million. It’s the third largest state in the country, following only California and Texas. Florida’s action follows Utah, which had banned fluoridation on March 28 with an effective date of May 7.

In a press conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is ending fluoridation because, “When you do this in the water supply, you’re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.” He said research shows the chemical has serious negative health consequences for children and pregnant women. “We don’t want local governments unilaterally injecting a chemical into the water supply and exposing people to potentially harmful side effects,” he added.

Florida’s action, which takes effect July 1, follows a series of victories at the local level, a remarkable grass roots movement that focused on the fact that fluoridation takes away the right of informed consent of citizens to decide what drugs they choose to ingest. Florida’s efforts received a big boost from the state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who had publicly called for its prohibition.  

In all, 25 city and county water systems in the Sunshine State had already ended the practice since the September 24, 2024 federal court ruling. The largest and most recent was Miami-Dade County (pop. nearly 2.7 million), whose commission voted 8-4 to over-ride its mayor’s veto. Five of the eight were Republicans, three were Democrats, demonstrating its bipartisan support, also a prominent feature of many of the other local campaigns.

STAY TUNED. The Fluoride Action Network has been working with legislators in nearly 20 states on bills since last fall in preparation for this unprecedented legislative session. Other states are on the brink of passing similar bills, including Louisiana and Texas.