Today we have a special guest post from Zane a District Councillor in Taupo on the abuse from anti-fluoridation activists. We thank Zane for sharing his situation.
We recently wrote a press release on an upcoming anti-fluoride event in Taupo.
Lake Taupo Photo by Tom Hall.
To whom it may concern,
My name is Zane Cozens and I am a Taupo District Councillor.
I was elected to office in 2013 and in my time in that position I have endeavoured to understand the finer details of what is the very controversial Fluoride Debate.
I approached the issue with an open mind in hope that whatever evidence I came across would steer me toward a well-informed path and that this would then encourage some solid proper decision making to occur.
What I found was a vast weight of material that supported the retention of Fluoride in our public water supplies and little substantiated proof that existed to support the contrary. There was however a wealth of alarmist articles ranging from fluoride’s use in the death camps of World War II to the decalcification of bones in children of third world nations. All of these articles appeared to be written by lay people with questionable, if any, notable qualifications.
Admittedly it can be proven that there can be some ‘mottling’ occurring on the teeth of a few scattered members of the community however the benefits displayed to the larger population appear immeasurable. It should be noted that this particular evidence was actually provided by the World Health Organisation.
I have spoken to doctors, dentists, orthodontists and scientists – all of whom support the continued use of Fluoride.
Not one single professional has contacted me to argue its removal from supplies.
For some reason the anti-fluoride movement has targeted me specifically (although all other Taupo District Councillors and Community Board Members have been included) and as such I have been made their ‘poster boy’ for what they call the ‘poisoning of children’ in the area. I have received emails threats of legal action, accusations of committing murder, supposed land theft, instigating the dumbing down Māori as a race and now this negative rant has made its way to Facebook courtesy of a Turangi Anti-fluoride page. They have also linked that page to my professional work websites.
As a public figure I am always ready for the rigours of robust debate and I will always look at both sides of an argument as my mind needs to be open so as to ensure that the best interests of the community are preserved. As such I repeatedly asked this group to come to me with peer-reviewed material or published documentation that supports their cause. But it seems that no amount of reasoning nor gentle coaxing will encourage them to meet me with a round-table discussion and the hope of finding some middle ground.
The hate and anger that has been delivered to me on this topic is beyond anything I have experienced before. It is both slanderous and distasteful but moreover it takes us to a dark place as a community because we as a population in the Southern Lake area are not like this – we simply don’t treat each other this way – it’s not our culture. I have now involved the Police, lawyers, Council and of course Facebook in hope that they will bring an end to this distasteful episode.
I am more than happy to talk to anyone on the matter.
Regards
Zane Cozens
As a Taupo ratepayer, I am saddened to hear of a councillor being abused in this way. We trust our public officials to use their judgement. In this case quite rightly the debate (if any) falls squarely on the side of continuing fluoridation and that this is a good public health intervention with little risk and unlike Hamilton it seems Taupo district council and it’s staff are committed to sensible decisions and decision making processes about such matters. Might only be of moral support, but I’m on the side of Zane and wish to voice my support for his efforts. I hope that the intervention needed against the abuse is effective, no one deserves it, least of all public officials committed to their local communities.
I intend to share Mr. Cozens’ story with Arkansas state senators who are considering a bill to make fluoridation a local option. They need to see how this would likely expose local government officials to similar harassment, as well as risk citizens losing a valuable public health measure.
Yes please share 🙂 and best of luck! If you need help from the society just give us a yell.
Great. As Dan said, please don’t hesitate to get in contact if you need anything.
After a few successes in Michigan and Kansas we’re more than happy to extend some support to our friends in the United States.
“Not one single professional has contacted me to argue its removal from supplies.”
Actually Zane Cozens has been invited to 3 presentations put on by Fluoride Free NZ.
Rotorua – 26 July – 3 Dentists & 2 Doctors presented
Taupo – 15 November – 3 Dentists, 1 Doctor & 1 Dental Nurse presented.
Taupo – 25 February – 2 PhD Scientists will be presenting
Note Fluoride Free NZ has no affiliation at all with Turangi Anti Fluoride.
“Note Fluoride Free NZ has no affiliation at all with Turangi Anti Fluoride.”
Thank you for publicly declaring that. We don’t need people who cause trouble.
“Actually Zane Cozens has been invited to 3 presentations”
Yes but his point was that no professional contacted him personally to remove it. There is plenty in Taupo and sounds like he went out and talked to a number of them to make sure.
Daniel, does Zane need a personal invitation from Prof Paul Connett or any of the other Dentists and Doctors that were/are happy to speak in public about fluoridation? We invited him (and every other Councillor) on their behalf.
Kane you are being deceptive. The Turangi Fluorde Free page clearly links to Fluoride Free NZ in The about section. You might not think he belongs but he certainly does. Or is this the ‘deniability’ tactic. See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Turangi-Anti-Fluoride-Group/1575808649323485?fref=photo
Ken, links don’t mean anything. The admin is someone who isn’t a part of FFNZ. You are making things up again.
Wouldn’t you want to contact them and say take it down? If you did it publicly then people know you’re not part of that group even if they didn’t take it down.
Is this page not public?
“Is this page not public?”
Of course it is. But you haven’t asked in here for them to take it down. But anyone on that page wouldn’t see these comments anyway.
Just giving tips if you actually wanted to distance yourself from them, otherwise feel free to ignore my advice.
Kane – this reminds me of the sillyness over Vinney Edwards and his libellous video attack on me. I asked Mary to stop promoting it and to reprimand him. She said he was not a FFNZ member. But of course no-one is a FFNZ member – there isn’t a formal membership. Very handy.
I then asked her to dissociate FFNZ from the attack – she refused.
And of course FFNZ went on promoting the video and maintain their assocaition with that nutter.
The person promoting the Turangi page and petition certianly sees himself as part of FFNZ – whatever you say.
His “about section” can be seen as implying that the formation of his page was part of the start of the FFNZ campaign in the Taupo region. And the absence of any other FFNZ Taupo/Turangi page supports that.
So, Kane, is FFNZ prepared to publicly dissociate itself from the Turangi page because of its abusive and libellous content?
Is FFNZ prepared to publicly condemn those methods?
And is FFNZ prepared to publicly ask him to remove the link to FFNZ, with its implication of being part of the organisation?
Until FFNZ does I will intepret your silence as accepting that he is part of your movement (even if informally), associated with your organisation (even if informally), and that you are condoning his attacks by your silence.
The About section on that page no longer contains the link you are talking about. That person is saying a lot of things that we have refuted ie Nazi myth being one example. He isn’t a part of FFNZ and I have asked him to remove our links. End of story.
“He isn’t a part of FFNZ and I have asked him to remove our links. End of story.”
Thank you Kane.
Yep, it is now linked to Harvard Univiersity!
Obviously Kane is on good terms with this guy.
But what about publicly dissacociating from the content of that page – the abuse and libel of councillors. Surely FFNZ should be up to that – unless they find such dog whistling support for their cause handy.
Here a screenshot of the About section of the Turangi Fluoride Free page showing its link to Fluoride Free NZ.
Wrong image?
Hopefully this is the correct image https://openparachute.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=31547
Fixed.
I get a little sceptical when people with closed minds like Daniel join in the debate around finding a way forward. Especially given his mentor is one Ken Perrot.
My focus is on stopping the addition of a compound to my drinking water that has been scientifically recognised as having adverse health effects since the late 1800s. Even the World Health Organisation puts out contradictory material on fluoride which is cherry picked to fit in with whatever position is held. Having zealots stirring the pot with statements like ‘ local politicians don’t have the background or ability to decide on the issue’ (Ken Perrot) is insulting and contradictory when he pressed for a referendum in Hamilton. That meant the decision making was placed in the hands the general public, who I suggest were less well informed than the councillors and voted on the emotions generated by the issue rather than on the truth.
The reality with fluoridation is that the information on which the decisions to engage in fluoridation were made 70 years ago and like the decisions around the safety and benefits of smoking, asbestos and other toxic elements the truth takes time to emerge and more importantly be accepted.
“with closed minds like Daniel”
Please keep the insults to a minimal.
“Especially given his mentor is one Ken Perrott”
We have a number of dentists, scientists and other health professionals that help out our society. Not just Ken.
“scientifically recognised as having adverse health effects since the late 1800s”
At high levels.
“puts out contradictory material on fluoride”
Citation needed.
“That meant the decision making was placed in the hands the general public, who I suggest were less well informed than the councillors and voted on the emotions generated by the issue rather than on the truth.”
It gave the people their voice to have it. The Council ignored the Ministry of Health and the Waikato District Health Board. In the end it was the councillors that accepted the referendum, so if they actually had a problem they would of stopped it.
“the decisions around the safety and benefits of smoking, asbestos and other toxic elements the truth takes time to emerge and more importantly be accepted”
Are you comparing a beneficial trace element to smoking? Your computer screen could be found “toxic”. But just because something can be found out to be toxic doesn’t mean everything will be.
Trev, you are opposed to democratic decisions, are you.? Want to replace the general elections by passing he decision over to someone who knows better than the public – John Key?
There’s been a lot of high-quality research since then, published in good journals, that continues to show no evidence of harm. And no, I’m not meaning the Choi & Grandjean work; even they said it didn’t apply to CWF.
Oh dear, another evidence free rant.
Rhetoric is doing you no benefit, Trevor.
Daniel, stop repeating claims made against you and attempting to shoot them down. For all we know, Trump supports municipal water fluoridation – so there we go. Your correspondents’ science is hearsay, from those not prepared to wait out for the research, which hasn’t come back yet.