Bill Banning Minors From Tanning Beds Approved

Agoura Hills teens under 18 will no longer be able to use tanning beds now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation banning minors from using the ultraviolet beds.

Senate Bill 746, sponsored by state Sen. Ted Lieu, prevents anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed. Previously, teens ages 14-17 could use the beds with a parent's permission.

“I praise Gov. Brown for his courage in taking this much-needed step to protect some of California’s most vulnerable residents—our kids—from what the ‘House of Medicine’ has conclusively shown is lethally dangerous: ultraviolet-emitting radiation from tanning beds,” Lieu said in a statement. “If everyone knew the true dangers of tanning beds, they’d be shocked. Skin cancer is a rising epidemic and the leading cause of cancer death for women between 25 and 29."

The bill, SB 746, was signed Sunday by Brown. It was sponsored by the California Society of Dermatology & Dermatological Surgery and the Aim at Melanoma Foundation. It also was supported by the California Medical Association, Anthem Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The new law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.

The Indoor Tanning Association opposed the measure, saying the ban would "take away a very basic right of parents—the right to decide whether or not a teen can suntan indoors," according to a petition on the association's website.

When they go into effect, California's regulations against teen tanning will be the toughest in the country, Lieu has said.

Several European countries, including France and England, have banned minors from using tanning beds, and Brazil has banned tanning beds entirely.