State also considers outlawing smoking in car with passengers under 14, and protecting teens from harsh 'sexting' penalties.
Maria Garuccio of Syracuse tans in a tanning bed at Sun Seven in 2001. New York is considering a ban on indoor tanning for people under age 18.Albany — New York health officials are ramping up their regulation of more than 2,000 tanning salons and gyms offering indoor ultraviolet rays even as health advocates push for a law banning exposure by anyone under 18.
“We’re not claiming that people get addicted to tanning the same way you do nicotine, but it clearly is a habit you develop as a teenager,” said Peter Slocum, vice president for advocacy at the American Cancer Society in Albany. “That’s when most people start frequenting the cancer chambers.”
Last year, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified tanning as a definite human carcinogen, putting it in the same group as smoking. “That’s the reason the Cancer Society and other groups stepped up their attention on this issue and adopted the policy recommending a ban for kids under 18,” Slocum said.
New York law currently bans commercial indoor tanning for children under 14 and requires written parental consent for those from 14 up to 18. Pending legislation would outlaw commercial indoor tanning by anyone under 18. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 32 states regulate tanning by minors. Society spokeswoman Angela Pause-Smith said legislation to outlaw it has been introduced in about 20 states.
Rosie McDavid, 17, who has been using tanning beds since she was 14, prepares a tanning bed for a session in Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Legislature was considering a bill that would restrict tanning bed use by minors.Lawmakers are considering other youth-protection measures in New York, including two that advanced recently but haven’t yet been enacted.
A ban on smoking in cars containing passengers under 14 passed the Assembly and was expected to pass the Senate when Sen. Thomas Duane, who chairs the Health Committee, asked to hold it until he conducts a hearing on current and proposed smoking regulations, possibly in August.
The Senate voted to protect teens from harsh penalties for so-called “sexting,” sending sexually explicit images or messages, to other consenting minors. It would apply to minors less than four years apart in age and when there is expressed or implied consent. A related measure is pending in the Assembly.
“You don’t want a child put on the registry of sex offenders when peer pressure or whatever caused them to do a stupid thing like that,” said Sen. Toby Stavisky, a Queens Democrat.
In Onondaga County, a 17-year-old boy was prosecuted for e-mailing nude photos of junior high school girls that they had originally sent to boyfriends. And 29-year-old former LeMoyne College soccer coach James A. Riverso was jailed for sending sexually explicit texts to three underage players.
Mutual consent cases like those envisioned by the legislation, for example among teens who are dating, are unlikely to be prosecuted at all, said Onondaga County prosecutor William Fitzpatrick. The concern arises when the subject or recipient of such images or text doesn’t consent.
In 17-year-old Michael Wixson's case, he received 10 years’ probation and youthful offender status after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. It won’t be part of his permanent record and he won’t have to register as a sex offender.
According to the Cancer Society, the tanning reclassification was based on a 2006 analysis concluding individuals who tanned indoors before age 30 increased their risk for melanoma by 75 percent. Another study showed teen use of tanning beds rose from 1 percent in 1998 to 27 percent of teens a decade later.
The Indoor Tanning Association, which represents manufacturers, distributors and owners, said that analysis is flawed, and contends the proposed ban intrudes on people’s personal decisions. Executive Director John Overstreet said it would be outrageous if a parent in New York could permit a son or daughter to join the military or get married but not tan indoors.
The ACS estimates more than 1 million cases of basal and squamous skin cancers and 68,720 cases of melanoma this year. Its data also project 11,600 deaths from skin cancers — more than two-thirds from melanoma. The incidence has been rising for 30 years, faster among young white women and older men as a result of exposure to sunlight and ultraviolet radiation.
The legislation cleared Senate and Assembly committees but didn’t reach the floor in either chamber before they adjourned two weeks ago. If lawmakers don’t return this year, advocates plan a big push next year.
Meanwhile, the state Health Department plans this fall to begin enforcing recent laws regulating tanning businesses, department spokeswoman Claire Pospisil said. Operators have to complete a permit application and pay a $30 registration fee every two years, plus an inspection fee of $50 per bed or booth to the county or state health officials.
Operators already are required to give new customers an information sheet on the health hazards of tanning, which should be signed. They are also required to have parents sign a consent form for younger teens. Forms are to be kept in each customer’s file.
The upcoming regulatory action provides for an inspection of each facility within the two-year permit period, Pospisil said.
State regulations already require tanning salons to guarantee their booths and beds are sanitized, that machines have manufacturer labels and timers, their customers wear protective eyewear, records of every visit are kept and customers’ ages verified with official identification such as a driver’s license, and health warnings are posted. Salons without permits or found to be health hazards can be ordered shut.