Clean water and cannabis
A reader questions the flouridation of water. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Clean water and fluoridation don’t mix
Who doesn’t want clean water? But I fear political interests will thwart that end-game ["Vote yes on green bond," Editorial, Oct. 4].
Currently, all of New York City and approximately 40% of the rest of the state add sodium fluoride or hydrofluosilicic acid -- an arsenic-laced, never-purified or safety-tested industrial waste product -- into drinking water supplies. Trucked as hazardous, these fluoridation chemicals are supposed to reduce tooth decay. Also, the New York State Department of Health is offering funds to communities to protect or start fluoridation.
Fluoridation began in 1945 when fluoride was believed to be an essential nutrient, but it is neither. Like all drugs, fluoride has side effects. There is no scientifically valid reason to keep adding these chemicals into New Yorkers and into their store-bought foods and beverages, but political pressure is guaranteed to keep these unnecessary, harmful, money-wasting chemicals flowing -- with or without this “green bond.”
So, what I know makes me skeptical of that which I don’t know or the length to which other political interests will go to protect their favorite pollutants.
Carol S. Kopf, Levittown
The writer spearheaded an effort that stopped fluoridation in Levittown in 1983.
We don't know where cannabis will lead us
I fear this entrepreneurial optimism over cannabis will not be long shared by most parents ["Time for LI to opt in on retail cannabis," Opinion, Oct.3]. We should reflect on the history of prior “safe and legal dispensaries” that are “accessible and regulated.” Consider the safe and legal dispensation of tobacco and alcohol products. Or the recent reception of vaping and hookah salons and products. Remember when OTB was the solution for short-funded schools? When cellphones were means to keep children safe? I’m not saying we should not share in this new market, but we must be clear: It is the money that matters, and who gets it. For the rest of us it’s caveat emptor, as ever.
Brian Kelly, Rockville Centre
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