For Jones, the fight is personal. Jones says she won't give up her fight because, revealed in her stacks of information are studies documenting that fluoridation is a poison that causes increased risk of hip fractures, cancer and birth defects as well as the dental fluorosis, which is a discoloration of teeth caused by too much fluoride. But those studies are not enough to battle the proponents like the Center for Disease Control, the American Dental Association and the California Dental Association, who cast anti-fluoridationists as kooky conspiracy theorists who use scare tactics to confuse the public about the benefits of fluoridation. They point to their own convincing stack of medical studies from mainstream journals as proof that fluoridation of California's water supply is not only safe but an effective mechanism to prevent cavities. In the battle over fluoride, it seems there are no shades of gray.
Some people are just philosophically opposed to medication in the water supply.
They think it's forced medication. Water fluoridation always has been a hot-button issue. Far from alleging a Red plot, today's anti-fluoridationists have recast the debate in terms of a capitalist ploy. It's about intimidation. Fluoride is a chemical compound that can occur naturally in some water supplies.