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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (9720)	3/25/2001 9:14:50 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

In many ways this reminds me of the seat belt problem we discussed. If we fluoridate water are we helping more people than we are hurting? . I've become pretty knowledgeable about seatbelts. I know next to nothing about fluoride. Fluoride came along too late to do anything for my teeth, which are so soft that all my molars were crowned by my mid twenties. I guess that's an improvement over my mother, who had false teeth by then. Anyway, from what I see, you're right that the fluoride thing is much like the seat belt thing. So, of course, I disagree with you on this one, too. We live in a country that legally and culturally respects the individual. We have laws to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority and from arbitrary expediency. I think that in urgent circumstances it may be necessary to make the tough decision to sacrifice some for the good of the many--but not until the circumstances are urgent. There is no good reason to put so many people in harm's way from ill-fitting seatbelts when most of them could be accommodated with so little effort. If fluoride is hazardous to some, and I don't know that that's the case, I don't see why we would put it in the water supply where it can't be avoided by those at risk. There are other ways to dose people with fluoride if they want it and the risks of not being dosed with fluoride are not very serious. I'm horrified at the notion of sacrificing people until and unless the need is urgent and there's no reasonable alternative. Karen