Indiana considers tanning-bed ban for young teens

The reasons sound terribly familiar to Katie Donnar.

Girls tell her they want to tan to be pretty for prom. To look thinner. To clear up acne. To fit in.

But Donnar has become a cautionary tale for young people across the state. She says melanoma grew on her 17-year-old skin as a consequence of peer pressure and teenage insecurities, which she had tried to soothe since the age of 13 with session after session in tanning beds.

Now, Donnar wants tanning salons to close their doors to young teenagers like the one she used to be — an impressionable minor who lusted ­after a bronze tone without knowing the damage she was doing to her skin.

“I thought that I was invincible,” she said, “that whatever I was doing to my body wouldn’t actually harm it.”

Donnar, a 22-year-old marketing copywriter in Indianapolis, is helping advocate for a statewide ban of children younger than 16 from ­indoor tanning facilities.

In Indiana, those younger than 16 can tan at salons if their parents ­accompany them. At ages 16 and 17, they need written parental consent.

Across the country, lawmakers are pushing for new, more restrictive laws aimed at reducing health risks — including melanoma and other more common skin cancers — that dermatologists associate with ­exposure to ultraviolet rays from tanning beds.

Senate Bill 50, which is working its way through the Indiana Senate, is a modified version of an attempt last year to keep those younger than 18 out of tanning beds.

Opponents of such age restrictions say tanning bed use in moderation carries health benefits, and decisions on teen tanning should be left up to parents.

‘Silly and reactionary’

Marcy DeShong, who owns five Bronze Bay Tanning salons in Indiana, said tanning beds can provide mood-boosting and immune-strengthening vitamin D through artificial sunlight.

She denounced the bill as “silly and reactionary, and a lot of it’s fed by misinformation.”

Still, changing the proposed ban to younger than 16 is gathering support, not only from dermatologists and health professionals, said the bill’s author, Sen. Patricia Miller, but also from some tanning salon operators.

“It’s a step forward,” said Miller, R-Indianapolis, who leads a Senate health committee.

“I think this bill actually will be an education in itself,” she said. “Because when people learn if you’re under 16, you can’t tan at a facility, that should be a wake-up call to a lot of people.”

Dermatologists hope it won’t take long for Hoosiers to learn about the increased risk of skin cancer that they associate with tanning beds.

“We’re late to come around,” said Dr. Kenneth Dawes, an Indianapolis dermatologist and president of the Indiana Academy of Dermatology, “but hopefully with more states pursuing this, it’s beginning to generate some momentum.”

Dawes cited a study that shows people who use tanning beds before the age of 35 have an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

“In general, there’s a false impression by the public at large that a tan is a sign of health,” Dawes said. “Because of that, I think there’s an ­inclination that going to get a golden tan, you feel better about how you look. In reality, you’re ­increasing your risk of skin cancer.”

The cool factor

Like ultracool James Bond lighting cigarettes in movies, tanning sometimes gets glamorized by pop culture, ban supporters say.

Think of the heavily bronzed cheekbones of a Kardashian, or the catchphrase of the “Jersey Shore” gang: GTL — gym, tanning, laundry.

Donnar, who travels across the state and country to campaign for skin care awareness, has noticed the public perception is slightly shifting, first in ­urban areas and more ­slowly in rural ones.

Eighteen states have enacted indoor tanning bans for minors, ranging from under-14 to the stricter under-18 prohibitions in California, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Vermont.

In the fall, the American Suntanning Association supported efforts in New York City to ban minors younger than 17 from tanning facilities and to improve oversight of salons.

But a similar national trade organization, the Indoor Tanning Association, came out in 2012 against limiting minors’ access to tanning beds.

“The Indoor Tanning Association believes that the decision regarding whether or not a teen is allowed to suntan is a ­decision for parents, not government,” a news ­release said.

Association officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Miller, the Indiana lawmaker behind this year’s proposed under-16 ban, tried last year to make it illegal for those younger than 18 to use tanning beds in salons. That attempt didn’t make it past the first step of the legislative process.

Support from some tanning groups gives this year’s bill a better chance, she said. It ­already has cleared a committee vote and is awaiting action by the full Senate.

‘It’s just the right thing to do’

Among the bill’s backers is Lisa Brooking, owner of True Colors Tanning Salon with 10 ­locations in Southern ­Indiana.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” Brooking said.

But she thinks it could prevent teens from learning “how to tan the right way” in state-licensed tanning salons. Facilities like hers put restrictions on how long and how often people can tan to prevent burning, which can raise chances of skin cancer, she said.

“They can’t shut down the beach, and they can’t shut down the pool,” where similar knowledge about tanning is needed, Brooking said.

DeShong also wants responsible tanning — and the right to decide when her children can use a tanning bed.

“I want my kids to do some tanning in the ­wintertime,” she said. “For 10, 12 minutes, two to three times a week, it’s wonderful for their ­bodies.”

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.