Why Portland refuses to fluoridate its drinking water

For the fourth time since 1956, Oregon's biggest city just refused to add the anti-cavity compound to its famously clean tap water

Protestors hold signs in Portland's City Hall during a 2012 vote to add fluoride to the city water.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Don Ryan)

For people used to thinking of Portland as the earnestly quirky liberal oasis portrayed in Portlandia and the style pages of The New York Times, the idea that Oregon's largest city agrees with the conspiracy-minded John Birch Society about dosing citizens with fluoride may seem odd. But on Tuesday, for the fourth time since 1956, Portland voters rejected a plan to fluoridate the city's drinking water. As Slate's Jake Blumgart asks, "What's the matter with Portland?"

The vote wasn't even close: The anti-fluoride side won 60 percent to 40 percent. This despite the pro-fluoride side out-raising opponents $850,000 to $270,000 (including cash and in-kind donations). "There's a libertarian component to Oregon politics," Oregon State University political scientist Bill Lunch tells The Oregonian, "a kind of opposition to what the establishment might want."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.