Response #1: Should teens be banned from using tanning beds?

VICTORIA — British Columbia's capital could soon become one of the only jurisdictions in Canada to ban teens from indoor tanning salons over concerns the practice causes cancer.
The regional district that includes Victoria and surrounding communities is considering a bylaw that would, among other things, prohibit anyone under 18 from using tanning beds and require ID from anyone who appears to be under 25.
The bylaw comes amid persistent calls for stricter restrictions for an industry that has until now preferred to regulate itself, with few provincial or federal laws governing who can operate tanning beds or who can use them.
Dr. Richard Stanwick, the chief medical health officer for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, argues it's time governments stepped in to protect young people from the damaging artificial rays of tanning beds.
"It's a legal product, just like tobacco and alcohol, and we're not asking for an adult ban, just that children be protected," Stanwick said in an interview Wednesday after the bylaw was presented to the regional district for first reading.
"They (children and teens) are going through a period of growth, cell division -- the times at which the body is most vulnerable to the effects of radiation. There isn't a medical body that I know of that has taken a position that this is safe."
The Canadian Cancer Society, the World Health Organization and others have intensified their campaigns in recent years to have governments ban teens from tanning facilities.
Research suggests that artificial tanning before the age of 30 increases the risk of skin cancer by as much as 70 per cent.
New Brunswick was the only Canadian province banning minors from tanning salons, but it quietly repealed its legislation last year as it made changes to its provincial health laws. The province is now promising new guidelines as early as this fall.
There have been attempts in other provinces such as Ontario to prevent teens from using tanning beds and a Conservative MP introduced a private member's bill calling for increased warnings earlier this year, but so far none have come to fruition.
Outside of Canada, more than 30 U.S. states and several countries such as Australia and France have laws restricting minors' access to tanning salons.
"From the perspective of dealing with second-hand tobacco smoke, North America led and it was only recently that other countries caught up," said Stanwick.
"In terms of tanning, it's almost the reverse. These other countries have taken much stronger stances."
For its part, the industry has resisted attempts to prevent teens from accessing tanning salons or impose warning labels on tanning beds, suggesting the cancer risk has been overstated.
Doug McNabb of the Joint Canadian Tanning Association, who was in Victoria for the regional district's meeting on Wednesday, said a better approach would be to require parental consent before minors are allowed to tan.
"It more or less infringes on a parent's ability to make good decisions for their children," McNabb said in an interview.
"You should be treating tanning beds the same as you would outdoor sun, and that is allowing parents to participate in educating their kids to make decisions about tanning."
McNabb's group has suggested the cancer risks associated with tanning are exaggerated, and the focus instead should be on protecting people with certain vulnerable skin types.
The bylaw's next step is public consultations in the fall.
If the bylaw passes, the province's minister of healthy living, Ida Chong, will need to sign off on it before it takes effect. She couldn't be reached for comment.
Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin supports the bylaw, but he suggested provincial governments should be taking the initiative to regulate the industry.
"If there's a preventable type of cancer we can move forward on, we should be doing what we can," said Fortin.
"When you take a look at who's paying the health bill, and in this case it's the senior levels of government, it's certainly something they should be looking at, especially when you're looking at prevention of something that eats up our health-care bill. We would hope that if we can pilot this, then perhaps the province and other provinces will take a look at it."