N.J. panel recommends minors should be banned from using tanning beds

Patricia Krentcil, 44, waits to be arraigned at the Essex County Superior Court, on May 2, 2012 in Newark, N.J. / AP Photo/Julio Cortez

(CBS/AP) TRENTON, N.J. - A legislative panel has approved plans to bar anyone under 18 from using tanning beds in New Jersey.

The Assembly's Women and Children Committee passed the measure Monday by a 5-0 vote, though two members abstained. It now heads to the full Assembly for consideration, but it's not known when a vote will be held.

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The bill expands a 2006 state law that banned tanning bed use by anyone under 14, and requires written parental consent for those ages 14 to 17.

The issue has seen renewed interest after a Nutley woman named Patricia Krentcil was accused this month of taking her 6-year-old daughter into a tanning booth. That allegedly resulted in burns to the child's skin, and the woman has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment.

According to CBS station WCBS in New York, Krentcil admitted to an excessive tanning problem but "would never permit" her daughter to go tanning in a salon with her. The mother claims that her daughter got the burns from playing out in the sun in their backyard. While she admitted to bringing the child to a tanning salon, she said the child waited outside while her mother tanned in the booth.

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NJ mom accused of putting 6-year-old in tanning booth

[Molly-Pchr]

Meanwhile, the tanning mom has been offered a reality TV show?

[ArchDisciple]

LOL exactly.

[Ericwvb]

So New Jersey currently prohibits tanning for those under 14, and "tan mom" said she never let her SIX year old use a tanning booth, but her daughter just waited outside while she was using one, and now they want to pass a law making it illegal for those under 18? The event that triggered it would already been illegal under existing law!

[SUZAMBA]

I think she has more than a problem! Does she not have any mirrors in her home, OH wait, maybe she doesn't know it's her looking back!@

[joao9silva]

If a child has vitiligo (loss of color on the skin) the only possible cure is with constant sun on the skin in the morning and afternoon or sun beds. So this is a medical recommended cure! The risks are limited unless is abused and the same is staying in the mid-day sun.

[tomanyt]

Why not just ban children from sunlight?

[AOCGUY]

This is nuts. Heck I live near a city that has been unable to come to grips with a road that at least 12 pedestrians have been killed in the last three years and NJ wants to create a law because one child got a sunburn.

[barbaram99]

i don't use them..They ban children from them..good..

[canislupus16]

So in less than a week, under Republican Governor Chris Christie's watch, NJ has overseen 1) asking 3rd graders on a test to divulge a secret and tell why it was hard to keep; 2) moved to ban tanning; 3) a NJ city has moved to ban texting while walking.

Does he belong to the same Republican party that wants less government, and less government intrusion in people's lives (excluding, of course, people's bedrooms, family planning decisions, relationships, doctor's offices, etc.)?

[rightbehind]

She's starting to look a little healthier.

[nomorelibs]

This is what politicians do. 1 person abuses tanning beds and now we need to ban them. Why is it so hard to let people make their own decisions in this country? That's what it was founded on. Personal responsibility. That being said, not sure if this woman if more pathetic for abusing the tanning bed, or leaving her 6 yr old in the waiting room while she over-tanned herself.

[Anotheryahoo]

Our politicians have become reactionary idiots jumping at every chance to remove freedom and liberty and are trying as hard as they can to make everyone guilty of something. who is the bigger idiot this woman or the politician?