Proposed law would shut minors out of tanning beds
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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.
just get out into the sun kids. no doubt you'll still get the third degree about where your tan came from