IN-DEPTH: North Carolina Commissioners Vote to Remove Fluoride From Water

The question isn’t whether fluoride is good or bad; it’s whether the public consents to being medicated without their agreement, according to proponents of a North Carolina county ordinance that aims to discontinue its use in the local water supply. At the Union County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Feb. 5, commissioners voted 3-2 to remove fluoride from the county drinking water. The ordinance will still require a second reading and vote at the board’s next meeting on Feb. 19 because it wasn’t a unanimous 5-0 vote. During public comment at the meeting, the argument centered around medical freedom for those against using fluoride in the water supply, while those in favor of mass fluoridation leaned into a familiar “safe and effective” stance, declaring that it’s been used for decades....