The online version of SNJ carried this today - hopefully also in next weeks paper...
Greens oppose flouridation
By SNJ reporter
GREEN Party members in Stroud have condemned government plans to cut tooth decay by adding fluoride to water supplies. Members claim adding the chemical without residents' permission is immoral and dangerous.
Cllr Philip Booth, Green Party spokesman and secretary of the Safe Water Campaign for Gloucestershire, said: "This is an issue of medical ethics. Fluoridating water is essentially medicating people without their permission.
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"The European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine distinctly states that individuals have the right not to be medicated without their consent."
He said the main causes of poor dental health were poor diet and inadequate dental hygiene.
"While we continue to feed refined sugar to our children in schools, efforts to reduce tooth decay will be in vain."
He said the positive health effects of flouridation were unfounded and most European countries had cut levels of tooth decay without it.
"While topical fluoride on teeth does help prevent tooth decay, there is simply no good evidence that systemic fluoride does," he said.
"Fluoride is a known poison if ingested over a long period of time, even in small daily doses."
Its consumption has been linked to medical conditions, including severe skeletal problems, discolouration of teeth, bone cancer and nerve problems.
The Green Party wants dental health education for adults and children, a warning on all sources of fluoride intended for human consumption and a ban on the fluoridation of drinking water.
