Some salons say Idaho teen tanning ban won’t hurt business

ABOUT THE BILL

The statement of purpose attached to the bill says it would:

• Prohibit use of phototherapy, tanning and ultraviolet tanning devices by anyone in Idaho under age 18.

• Make it a misdemeanor to violate the ban.

• Set an initial fine of up to $500 and $1,000 for subsequent violations within a year.

• Make an exception if a licensed medical provider has prescribed tanning or phototherapy to treat a medical condition.

MEDICAL USE

Phototherapy — or light therapy, which can be provided by a box as small as a notepad — is used for a number of conditions, including seasonal affective disorder, or seasonal depression; sleep disorders; psoriasis; and infant jaundice. The Mayo Clinic says phototherapy is “generally safe.”

However, tanning beds are not a proven treatment for seasonal affective disorder and can be harmful, the clinic says.

Sponsor Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said he plans to amend the bill Friday to take out the phototherapy wording.

Local salon owners said there just aren’t a lot of minors patronizing local salons, many of which are clustered around Boise State University.

Fewer than 5 percent of Image Sun Tanning clients last year were under 18 — and three-quarters of those came in for an airbrush spray tan, not a UV-tanning session, said Catherine Lawrence, owner of the salon at 6843 N. Strawberry Glen Road in Boise. Lawrence and other Treasure Valley salon owners require a parent’s permission for customers under 18.

“The very few of them who were young enough (to require permission) were coming in and tanning with their parents, because they were going on a tropical vacation or a cruise,” she said.

The House Health and Welfare Committee voted this week to approve the bill, sponsored by Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a retired doctor. Rusche expects the bill to be taken up for amendments Friday.

Because of the link between frequent suntanning and skin cancer, the indoor tanning industry has been a target for regulation. The 2010 health care reform law added a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning.

Planet Beach at State and 17th streets in Boise has “maybe two” customers a year who are under 18, said employee Teylir Baker. Those clients are prom-time tanners, not regulars, she said.

Steve Albanese, partner at Naked Beach Tanning, 6909 W. Fairview Ave. in Boise, says, “I rarely, rarely ever get 17- or 16-year-old boys or girls who want to tan.”

John Overstreet, executive director of the national Indoor Tanning Association, said minors are “not a big percentage of customers for most of these businesses,” but that even 5 percent would mean a 5 percent loss of revenues. “That affects the bottom line a lot more dramatically” for businesses that can’t easily adjust their own costs to make up for those losses, he said.

But some local salons said the ban might actually help business. Teens who might otherwise hit a tanning bed could still get spray tans, and many salons price spray tans higher than tanning-bed sessions. Tanning sessions often start for less than $10 each, and yearlong memberships can cost hundreds of dollars.

Lobbyists for the industry disagree, saying the ban could have a chilling effect on overall tanning use, and that salon owners elsewhere in the state have a larger under-18 customer base.

But owners and lobbyists agree that the bill is a nanny-state encroachment on business and parental control, they said.

Overstreet said the wording is so broad that it could make the teenager a criminal for using a tanning bed inside of a home.

“As a parent, I’m concerned about (the Legislature reaching into) parental controls,” said Lawrence, who has two daughters.

Albanese bristled at the idea of health-related reasons for limiting access to tanning devices.

“If you’re at Ann Morrison Park and you’re hanging out in the sun, it does more damage to you than 10 minutes in the bed with lotion and goggles,” he argued.

Roger Seiber, a partner of the CapitolWest Public Policy Group lobbying on behalf of the Idaho Indoor Tanning Association, said the bill is really about more than keeping kids from tanning.

“A young lady under the age of 18 can have an abortion with the consent of her parent but can’t go to a tanning salon?” Seiber said. “This is a national push by those that would like to see indoor tanning banned completely. This is the first step.”

Audrey Dutton: 377-6448