What’s wrong with this picture? Washington has the seventh highest rate of deaths caused by melanoma—but we are one of only 11 states that has no regulations or age restrictions on tanning salons.Rep. Jeannie Darneille wants to change that with House Bill 2652, which would regulate tanning salons and ban their use by persons under age-18 unless they have a doctor’s prescription.
“The bill before you is about melanoma prevention and it’s about saving lives,” Rep. Darneille told the Health Care & Wellness Committee on Tuesday.
Dr. Marc Antezana, President of the Washington State Dermatology Association, strongly supported the bill, saying it’s strange that Washington regulates nail salons and beauty salons but not tanning salons—which is where melanoma “too often starts.”
Darneille’s bill regulates tanning equipment, training and advertisements and requires a disclosure of health risks to customers. Most importantly, the bill bars minors under age 18 from using tanning salons unless they have doctor’s prescription.
The committee heard emotional testimony in support of Darneille’s bill from Michelle Neary, a melanoma victim, and from Peter Rasmussen, who lost a daughter to melanoma.
Several tanning-salon operators attended the hearing in opposition to the bill. But Antezana said Darneille’s bill has the “support of thousands of physicians all across the state who care for patients with melanoma. “
