Proposed law would shut minors out of tanning beds
SALEM, Ore. – Due to the health risks, especially from cancer, some Oregon lawmakers want to ban anyone under 18 years old from using commercial tanning beds, tanning booths, or sun lamps.
Under a proposal known as House Bill 2896, the only way someone under 18 could use a tanning bed would be if they had a doctor's note. The bill was introduced on Monday.
Oregon has the fourth highest rate of death from skin cancer in the United States, according to Dr. Brian Druker at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
Indoor tanning increases the risk by 20 percent, Druker said in an online post that cites an 2012 study.
Katie Williams said she started using a tanning bed at age 16 while in high school. Seven years later, she had developed skin cancer.
“Luckily, I caught the melanoma in time,” Williams said. “It could have killed me when I was 23.
Druker also posted that another study found that using a tanning device before age 35 increases the risk of skin cancer by 75 percent.
Druker is the director of the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU.
Tanning beds, legal? Are these not decisions that parents should make. Why is the nanny state government even getting involved. Some people are going to get cancer no matter what. Some people do everything in excess, and some people want to mind everyone else's business. You can die in a car wreck, get hit in a crosswalk, choke on a piece of meat or vegetables. You can get the flu or some other dreadful illness. Why is a tanning bed any worse than anything else. Parents study up and do the right thing for your children.