It’s amazing that some issues never go away, and fluoridation of a public water supply is one of them.

Folks in Longmeadow are now debating the issue and I would have thought that in the year 2004 we would have settled this concern.

Making water a safer more pure product should be the goal of any municipal water system. Adding stuff that is supposed to be good for us is a clear violation of our individual rights.

Yes, I know that fluoridation proponents have good reasons, fine intentions, and all sorts of stats to back up their claims. I don’t view them as villains, just wrong – not bad, just making an error.

Now some folks will be quite angry at me and so be it. I’m sure I’ll get some anonymous hate mail and phone calls. It’s part of my job to endure these attacks and why the Buendos pay me the big bucks.

But before you pick up the phone or fire up the e-mail program, consider the following statements:

* Fluoridation supposedly works for children, not for adults, but who drinks more tap water these days? Kids want soda, juice, juice products, Kool-Aid and about anything other than a glass of water from the faucet to quench their thirst. The only time kids want a drink of water is at 2 a.m. They would ask for soda, but they know they’re pushing things as is.

* If fluoridation is such a good idea, then why don’t we add vitamins and minerals to water supplies so we can be sure everyone gets their daily recommended dosage? Why don’t we add drugs that would dampen a kid’s libido to the high school water supply? The heck with handing out condoms! How about oral contraceptives in the water at school as well?

* Why are people who call themselves “liberal” and believe in individual freedom so eager to take away part of that freedom by forcing a medication onto everyone in a community?

Traditionally, fluoridation proponents have discussed the need for the process to help out poor kids who may not be seeing a dentist on a regular basis and getting fluoride treatments there. So has anyone studied the kids in Longmeadow to see what kind of need there is for fluoridation? I thought Longmeadow was a fairly affluent community and I would be surprised to learn that there are a huge number of children not receiving good oral health treatments.

Wouldn’t a better solution be to help those kids get to a dentist twice a year?

Okay, now you can rip me apart. See the info at the end of the column on how to do that!

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