TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida on Thursday officially became the second state in the country to ban fluoride from public drinking water, marking a significant win for Medical Freedom groups aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Florida follows Utah, which became the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water in March.
“You should be able to talk to folks, your doctor, your friends, your family, whatever, on any of these issues, and then make an honest judgment about what you think is best for you and your family,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a Thursday news conference in Trilby. “Forcing this in the water supply is trying to take that away from people who may want to make a different decision, rather than to have this in water.”
Libertarian-leaning Medical Freedom groups, which grew in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, convinced a handful of local boards to stop adding fluoride to drinking water in recent years. But they received a significant boost from Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo after his formal recommendation against adding fluoride to public water supplies in November. Ladapo is a close ally of Kennedy, who has referred to fluoride as “toxic waste,” and announced plans in April to ask the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water.
