Tan Line Legislation
Because our legislators apparently don’t have any other pressing matters, they’ve decided to go after tanning parlors and the under-age tanners that infiltrate them. This from WRAL:
A bill pending in the General Assembly would require anyone under 18 to get a physician’s prescription to use a tanning booth.
State law now allows youths age 13 to 18 to go to a tanning parlor with parental permission, but Sen. Eric Mansfield, D-Cumberland, said the risk of contracting skin cancer from excessive exposure to the UV rays in tanning booths necessitates a medical referral.
“The outcome of this is a malignant disease that can be fatal, and that is much higher than the parental right,” said Mansfield, a Fayetteville physician.
He said he once had a teenage patient who developed melanoma, and he believes the disease was connected to her tanning bed use.
Under Senate Bill 471, physicians could approve teens going to tanning parlors to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. The prescription would specify the number of visits allowed and the length of each visit.
The bill’s working title is the Youth Skin Prevention Act, which of course makes it – wait for it – for the children. It looks the bill has only picked up a handful of sponsors, so some solace can be taken in the knowledge that the entire General Assembly hasn’t turned into complete nanny-state enforcers.
I’m all for keeping kids safe, a responsibility which primarily should rest with parents. And really, where does such government-enforced intervention stop? Let’s assume it’s with a law that requires parents to obtain a doctor’s prescription for children to play outside in the sun, and call it a day.
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