Let the teens tan

I had really bad acne as a teenager.

It may seem like an odd jump, but because of my experience with horrendous skin, I cannot support Senate Bill 50, a proposed Indiana bill that would ban all minors under the age of 16 from using tanning beds.

Now, bad acne isn’t something out of the ordinary for an adolescent with raging hormones and a serious case of the high school blues.  But at the risk of coming off like a drama queen, my blemished skin was a real blow to my self-confidence growing up.

Which is why after years of Proactiv, mud masks and weekly facial treatments, my mom signed me up for an indoor tanning account at a local tanning salon. I was 15-years-old, and I had given up hope that any skin treatment would ever work for me.

But using a tanning bed worked.

My skin wasn’t perfect, but it cleared up more than from any other treatment — including prescription medication — ever had.  I’m not here to claim tanning beds are miracle workers, but they’re not the cancer beds people make them out to be.

Furthermore, people shouldn’t be chastised for using them.

Whether you use a tanning bed or not, studies show your risk for melanoma is less than one percent because melanoma is extremely rare to begin with. In fact, there are actually a number of medical benefits to using tanning beds in safe and moderate amounts.

People use tanning beds in order to build a base tan, which alongside sunscreen can protect skin from burning or becoming irritated when exposed to sunlight.

Additionally, millions of salon customers use tanning beds in order to treat ailments such as eczema, season affective disorder, psoriasis and, yes, even acne. The ultraviolet-B rays emitted by tanning beds also increase users’ vitamin D levels, which research suggests reduces your likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis, heart disease or contracting the flu.

The key is to tan smartly and safely, which isn’t encouraged or promoted when teenagers are banned from using tanning beds altogether.

If parents are concerned with their child’s exposure to tanning beds, it’s their choice to exercise their rights as guardians and forbid their children from going to the tanning salon.

If I was legally barred from using a tanning bed growing up, my self-confidence would have continued to dwindle, and my skin would not have improved.

Hoosier mothers and fathers should have the right to educate their teenage children on how to tan smartly and effectively if they so choose.

This is no place for the Indiana legislature to act as a disapproving parent.

­— wdmcdona@indiana.edu

Follow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.