Florida became the second state in the country after Utah to ban local governments from adding fluoride to their public water systems.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill at Simpson Lakes in Dade City – about 38 miles northeast of Tampa – on Thursday. The law is set to go into effect on July 1.

“We certainly now, in our society in 2025, we have the ability to deliver fluoride through toothpaste and all these other things,” DeSantis said at an event for the signing of the bill. “You don’t gotta force it and take away people’s choices. But the whole crux of the issue is you should be able to make decisions on the basis of informed consent.”

“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,” DeSantis added.