Lawmakers Push To Raise Minimum Tanning Age To 18

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Indoor tanning may soon become an "adults-only" business in Minnesota.

State Lawmakers are making a push to raise the minimum age for tanning to 18. Some business owners said they don't feel very threatened, hoping it will lead to increase in spray tanning which many offer.

If those business owners decided to allow teenagers to tan, they'd have to pay fines. Those would be $150 on the first offense and $300 after that. Tanning is a health concern for lawmakers who say Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is on the rise in recent years in especially in young women.

Right now, people under 16 years old can tan with parental consent. With this bill, that wouldn't be allowed anymore. The legislation would make it illegal for anyone under age 18 to tan indoors. Tanning shop owners would have to post signage that says so.

A recent Health Department study says 34 percent of white girls in 11th grade reported they use tanning beds in the last year. Lawmakers said that's too many.

Some state lawmakers even said the bill doesn't go far enough on a tanning ban. They said tanning is bad people of all ages.