Teens Hooked On Tanning

With Skin Cancer Rates Rising, Legislation Targets Salons

(CBS)  One look at 15-year-old Caroline Greer, and one check of her calendar, and it's clear she is born to bronze.

Last week, as CBS News Correspondent Mika Brzezinski reports, Caroline sprayed and tanned every day.

Told that she may be a little orange, she says: "I'll just go tanning on top of it and make it darker on top."

She's heard the warnings about skin cancer.

"I think it might happen to me the way I tan," she says.

"The bottom line is there is no such thing as a safe tan," says Dr. Darrell Rigel of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dermatologists like Rigel say Caroline is right: She is at risk of getting skin cancer.

Backed by the American Academy of Dermatology, he supports banning the use of tanning salons by teens.

Twenty-two states already have bans or limits in place and at least three more are considering similar rules.

The new legislation is prompted by the growing rate of deadly skin cancer, which Rigel says is greatest in young women between the ages of 25 and 29.

"Skin cancer rates are rising dramatically in young people," says Rigel.

The use of tanning salons, he says, could be one of the factors.

"There's no data to support that," says Dan Humiston, who represents tanning salons nationwide, says doctors are underplaying the benefits of moderate exposure to UV rays and that parents and salons can easily regulate themselves.

Asked if it can actually be healthy to use these machines, Humiston says: "I think it's more than healthy, it's essential to good health, because it helps your body produce Vitamin D."

As far as age limits go, Humiston says it's one of those decision best left up to the parent.

Which brings us to the parents of Caroline.

"I'd rather her not, but as teenagers they are going to make some of their own decisions," says her mother Susan.

"As a parent you can't say no to everything," says her father David.

"It's hard being a parent, and when you are a teenager, you are bulletproof," says Rigel. "Later in life, you're going to look older faster and your risk of skin cancer goes up."

Asked if she's thinking about tomorrow, Caroline says: "Tomorrow, then I'll go tanning."