Tanning beds now illegal for under aged users

October 16, 2013 · 0 Comments

The Canadian Cancer Society are celebrating a milestone towards the fight against Cancer, as October 9th marked the date Ontario Legislature passed the Bill 30, the Skin Cancer Prevention Act, prohibiting youth under 18 access to tanning beds across Ontario.

Cancer associated with tanning beds is not a new political cause for the cancer society as they have been bringing the issue to the political forefront since 2005. According to CNW, a commercial news release group, Cancer society volunteers have pushed indoor tanning legislation in Ontario by visiting Queen’s Park, meeting with MPP’s participating in numerous letter writing campaigns and this effort resulted in three indoor tanning bylaws being successfully passed across Ontario.

Tanning salons across Ontario have fortunately not been inundated with under aged youth but statistically, the numbers of youth visiting tanning beds have been climbing. Helping the cause was Kate Neale, 23 of Belleville, who once never believed she would ever suffer a melanoma cancer and is now a survivor. Quoted in CNW’s press release, Neale stated, “ When I was diagnosed with melanoma, I wanted to stop every young person from indoor tanning. I joined the Cancer Society and the movement to advocate for legislation banning indoor tanning for youth because it was my hope to make a difference. That hope has become a reality.”

Even with all the publicity and public outcry against tanning beds in general being associated with Cancer, according to many tanning salon owners across Ontario, they are still waiting to see definitive proof that using tanning beds can cause cancer.

Owners of Oasis Tanning and Esthetics Ltd, Terrina Copan and Linda Beckett took precautions way ahead of any bills being passed and took one extra step to protect the youth of Shelburne.

“We’ve never allowed let anyone under 18 use of the tanning beds unless their parent were in attendance,” commented Copan and by taking this simple course of action completely averted the possibility of false signatures on permission slips. “ We actually don’t have many under aged clients.”

Note worthy is the fact that all Oasis Tanning employees have their Smart Tan Canada Certificates and that course of education stated there are no conclusive details linking Cancer to tanning beds.

Copan also theorized that while some tanning salon businesses will be affected negatively, Oasis will not, pointing out that in today’s society many professionals and young people need a little Vitamin D as they are not outside as much as they would like and advises, “ Like all things in life, don’t overdo it,” Copan suggests, “A couple times a week is great. Some people who are preparing to go on a tropical vacation may want to prepare their skin, and that’s fine.”

Thanks to responsible tanning salon owners like Copan and Beckett, Shelburne will not be producing under aged melanoma sufferers.

By Alex Sher