Put Aspirin In The Water!!!

I've written on this topic before here, but having it niggle at me once again now, I decided to write another little letter to the local papers in an attempt to hopefully change a few perspectives. Apparently our local council recently abstained from forming a binding opinion on the requested removal of fluoride from our local water supplies, instead opting to put the decision out to the public. An acceptable choice, considering the alternative would have been a "no". But then again, at the cost of a survey, post-delivered to every house in the region, one could consider it yet another bureaucratic waste.

Anyway, here's what I wrote:

I'd like to present you with a hypothetical situation. Migraine Headaches have been on the rise; a worldwide epidemic. A study shows up to 60% of the 36,000 local population are suffering from debilitating headaches, leaving them bed-ridden. It's resulted in a local productivity downturn of an estimated $1 million per month. Businesses are failing and the regional economy is on the verge of collapse. After investigating every possible cause and solution, the local Council accepts the advice from state health minister; place low amounts of soluble aspirin in the local water supply. It has been used in other countries with mixed success, but it has shown to be effective in most cases, is cheap and simple to administer. The dose proposed is very low, only 1mg per litre of water, but the state health minister insists that it will make a difference in our plaguing headache problem.

The final decision whether to put it in is left up the population. Every ballot paper is supplied with an information pamphlet, showing both for and against arguments. Here are the facts, as supplied to them:

1. Hundreds of cities and towns worldwide have been dosing their water supplies with aspirin, and no credible health issues have arisen. Headache levels are half that of non-aspirin-water towns. It is proven that aspirin has a positive effect on headaches at the dosage prescribed.
2. The dosed water will be supplied to every house on town water, or approx 50% of the population. Smaller towns will not, due to cost restraints.
3. Some people should not drink the aspirin water. These include people with allergies, chickenpox or influenza, kidney or liver disease, and pregnant women. These people simply need to purchase a filter, at their own cost. Only effective filter available costs around $300 to replace every year.
4. The side-effects of regular aspirin ingestion can include ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, abdominal pain, nausea, gastritis (inflammation of the stomach), and even serious gastrointestinal bleeding from ulcers. The aspirin-water may also, over time, become toxic to the liver. However the dosage is so low, side-effects will be minimal, if seen at all.
5. The cost of the supply and maintenance will be approx $40,000, but will add only $5 to the average rates bill. Every rate payer will pay, even those living outside of the supplied areas and in excluded towns, those not wanting it, the 40% or 14,400 not suffering from the headaches, and those drinking tank water.
6. Only 2-5% of the aspirin-water treated will be consumed by the population, with the rest going down drains, toilets, used in industry and on the gardens. Though up to 400kgs of the dissolved aspirin will enter the waterways every day region-wide, there have been no credible studies to show any environmental impacts.

Based on this information, which box would you tick? Is aspirin in the water good, or bad? Or would you rather just take some aspirin yourself for your own headache? Right now, we are drinking water with fluoride added, not aspirin. But many of the points above could be applied to fluoride. Did we get an information pamphlet before our water was dosed? No, in fact the only point told to us before fluoridation was point 1. The other points matter too, don't they. We may soon have a choice, please make an informed one.