Daily BrewB.C. moves ahead on youth tanning bed regulations
British Columbia teens looking for a mid-winter glow may soon find it easier to opt for a tan in a bottle.
As the Vancouver Sun reports, the B.C. government plans to bring tighter regulations into effect regarding tanning-bed use among the province's youth.
B.C. Health Minister Michael de Jong announced on Monday that his department was currently deciding whether young folks under the age of 18 will be banned outright from strapping on a pair of tiny goggles and soaking up the UV, or if they will simply require parental consent. Both options, as the article notes, will require a new set of regulations.
"I think it's clear that there is a strong desire to regulate the access minors have to tanning beds. I think that debate has evolved to a choice between requiring specific parental consent, or an outright ban," de Jong told the paper, adding that he would like to have the final decision within a few months' time.
The move comes on the heels of increasing pressure from medical and health groups who are urging the government to introduce an outright ban on under-18 tanning. The groups point to studies that say the beds cause cancer.
Last June, de Jong promised to take the groups' concerns more seriously.
"At a certain point, if enough communities express an interest in doing this, I think you can make the argument that perhaps the provincial government should step in," he told reporters at the time.
De Jong said he plans to release a government-commissioned report early next month from the Indoor Tanning Working Group with the intention of stimulating public discussion before the final decision gets made.
Victoria regional politicians had already voted in favour of the youth tanning bed lockout, but the bylaw, which was set to take root on July 1, was put off as the province decided to entertain a province-wide ban.
In September, the Union of B.C. Municipalities passed a resolution in favour of the new rules.
According to the Victoria Times Colonist, the new regulations received a powerful lobby from the Joint Canadian Tanning Association, a pro-glow group that argued tanning was a "natural sunscreen" and a ban would effectively "take away parents' rights." While they claim to support parental regulation, they disagree with an outright ban.
But provincial health officer Perry Kendall dismissed their argument last summer, citing scientific research that shows people who regularly used tanning booths before age 30 were 75 per cent more likely to develop melanoma — a deadly skin cancer — than those who did not.
"It's pretty obvious that ultra-violet light is a carcinogen and exposure during youth is cumulative and is a predictor of increased risk for skin cancer, including the nasty melanoma, so I think it's important that we exclude young children from this risk," Kendall told the paper.
If the ban takes effect, B.C. will follow Nova Scotia's lead after the eastern province became the first in Canada last May to make it illegal for people under 19 to use tanning beds.
