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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Drawing the shades on tanning
One of th
e most difficult jobs government has is balancing personal liberty against public health. Time was, there were few, if any, restrictions on the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and even drugs.
Over time, we've become a more enlightened people, recognizing the devastating social costs of unrestricted behaviors. Now we have restrictions on all sorts of things: from driving to food preparation to smoking.
And last year, the Davis County Health Board was the first in the Beehive State to restrict patrons under 18 from using tanning beds without an accompanying parent. Health Board members cited convincing scientific research about skin-damaging ultraviolet rays and the potential long-term consequences of tanning -- including skin cancer.
Davis tanning-salon owners howled because their teenage clients fled across county lines to Weber and Salt Lake, where there are no restrictions.
But now the Legislature appears poised to restrict teenage tanning statewide. Senate Bill 52, sponsored by Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, has received unanimous Senate-chamber support, and could soon be passed by the House of Representatives. This is a wise public health decision by lawmakers. We urge the bill's final passage and the governor's eventual signature.
SB52 is somewhat less restrictive than Davis County's rule. In Davis, parents must accompany their children under the age of 18 each time they go tanning in order to provide consent. SB52, however, would require parents to provide consent once each year at a tanning salon, and specify how many tanning visits their child may make to the salon.
If passed and signed into law by the governor, the state law would supplant the Davis restriction.
While we admired the Davis Health Board's decision last year to restrict tanning visits by minors, we felt forcing parents to accompany the child on each visit was too onerous. We think SB52's annual consent provision is more reasonable.
We hope, if the measure becomes law, that parents will think twice about allowing their children access to tanning salons. Exposure to the UV rays is potentially dangerous -- especially for young people.
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