New Tax on Indoor Tanning Goes into Effect

(CBS)  Gisselle Colon wanted to be bronze and beautiful. She sunbathed and bought a membership to a tanning salon several years ago. A month ago, things turned ugly, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

"I thought I was going to look prettier and have a tan," Colon said. "I was in shock a day or two before I realized how serious this is."

She has a scar on her leg. In May, Colon was diagnosed with melanoma, one of the deadliest and most preventable forms of cancer. Now, just as the government taxed cigarettes to reduce lung cancer, it's taxing indoor tanning, hoping to reduce the rising rate of melanoma. Originated as an idea to help pay for health care reform, it is expected to rake in $2.7 billion over the next 10 years.

An estimated 30 million Americans use tanning beds each year - 2.3 million are teenagers. It costs about $17 a visit. The 10 percent tax will raise that price by $1.70. It is unclear whether that will be enough to discourage indoor tanners. What is clear, new research finds indoor tanning before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 75 percent.

Why? Tanning booths emit both UVB and UVA rays. UVB causes the burn, the UVA the tan. Booths like this emit mostly UVA, but the rays can be 12 times stronger than the sun.

"We cannot believe people thing that UVA is safe," said dermatologist Dr. Ellen Marmur.

Marmur said both UVA and UVB cause cancer, and she's diagnosing more young women who started using tanning beds as teens.

"If you get a basic skin cancer in your 20s or 30s, your chance of getting melanoma within the next 10 years are actually much higher. That's a very scary way to live your youth to be constantly worried about lethal skin cancer," Marmur said.

New public service announcements take aim at teen tanning - and so are lawmakers. Thirty-two states now restrict it, such as by requiring parental permission in person. And New York state is considering banning indoor tanning outright for anyone under 18.
"I know it's bad for me and I do it just for color. And I probably will stop doing it," said Andrea Rollins.

What advice would Solon give to women going to tanning salons?

"Stop immediately," she said.

The industry argues tanning is safe in moderation. But doctors say fake tanners are the only safe choice for people who want that summer glow without the risk.

[twells8272]

I bet you that if they taxed something only black people do ,I bet the NAACP would be right on it.

[Valley1026]

Thanks tababarnes, I to suffer from psoriasis mine is not so bad, because, well, I tan in (indoors) moderation. I am asking why the positive effects of indoor tanning aren?t publicized; there should be balance in this. As indicated by weezypj, thanks Weezypj! Oh one thing not mention by weezypj is tanning makes you happy, so it counters depression... Something else that needs to be addressed is most modern tanning beds are a max time of 15 minutes. You do not sit in a tanning bed for hours like you do on a beach. There are also beds of various levels incorporated a mixture of UVA & UVB rays? Most ppl who tan, tan so they don?t burn on vacation because we all know with a base tan you significantly lower risk of burning?
If I were a parent of a teenager who wanted to tan, I would tell them to go outside ride a bike or just play. Not go to the mall or play video games there isn?t any sunshine in those places. All living things need sunshine. I would also provide a sunscreen that does not cause skin cancer. If the concern is primarily for those whose bodies are still developing well then it is their parent delegating that permission, isn?t it.
All of this being said... because I tan indoors to control psoriasis. I found a tumor in my left breast in 2009 while applying my tanning lotion (be4 I turned 40), so tanning in a roundabout way saved my life from "a cancer" that is environmental as in from all of the chemicals in our food and beauty products... Wanna get scrappy about what?s good for who... there you have it and it?s not a racist thing... I actually know ppl of color who tan to control other skin conditions.
Ending on the same not I began, it would be so nice to read a story that has all facets incorporated into it, the good the bad and the neutral... Have a nice day :) I always thought that is what journalism is?.

[tababarnes]

I have an issue with the tanning tax as a severe psoriasis sufferer I am punished at every turn, medical insurance and now the government! Everyone thinks we are all the same, and we are not!
If I don?t get sun I look like I have, on a good month chicken pocks and on a bad month zombie skin ? children run away from me! My options are 20 minutes of sun every day or take cancer causing injectable drugs!!!! Lets see do I want to risk melanoma (which by the way no one with my form of psoriasis , guttate, has ever gotten) or Lymphoma ???? I will happily take melanoma!... of course there is always the burka option.
Insurance has already made it clear they could care less, they constantly decline payment on my prescription creams because I am getting it to frequently ( covering your whole body twice daily takes more than 30 grams every ten days) which are ridiculously expensive and I have to get the dermatologist to call them AGAIN. Of course there is official UV light therapy which requires a daily 9-5 appointment at a dermatologist office, $50 for their sun goggles and then my office visit co-pay to go in their tanning bed. Oh ? and then they bill my insurance ? wow that is cost and time effective, really helps reduce medical costs.
They need to reassess this.

[weezyPJ]

They say the tax on tanning is about getting people to stop tanning because of cancer. They are worried about the teenagers. The teens who go tanning is about 12%. If they would of taxed botox they would be bring in more then half of what the tanning tax would. A buck and some change is not going to stop tanners. Just another tax for the middle class. People who get botox done have money to spend. Has anybody researched the positive side of tanning in moderation. They always look on the bad side of things. Leave it to the government to make something sound worse then it is. CBS, do a story on the benifits of tanning like it will not burn your skin the way the sun does or how it produces vitiman D. Thank you.

[heavynne]

If they tax people for smoking cigarettes, which is legal, for drinking alcohol which is legal and you all justify it because of cancer, which not everyone gets. Then they should tax these people if it causes melanoma which is deadly and therefore on our tax dollars. People are all for taxing something they don't do, but when it comes down to them and something they like to do, it's double standard. Pretty soon, and I think they should, tax people who eat excessively and become ill from it. Obesity also causes a lot of health problems and or death.

[coder451]

New amendment to the constitution:
The government shall not use taxation to influence behavior.

[shylove2]

How about putting the tanning booths outside? Better find something addictive and tax it to the hilt like tobacco and pretend we are helping people by having a new kind of prohibition and let insurance companies select every risk factor that exists and add to your policy accordingly while addiction salesmen sell it too you with constant commercials or did so in the past... and we also supported the growers with tax dollars... and then what if in small doses some addictions are actually medicines when no additives are present.

[democracy3]

by hillcoguy July 1, 2010 10:02 AM EDT
Use ANY JUSTIFICATION you can think of, BUT it's STILL a racist tax. You're being taxed because YOU ARE WHITE! How many black people will use the tanning beds and contribute to THAT tax???
*****

Well, I doubt that many black people will be coming down with melanoma then, right? You're the racist, pal. No one is being forced to use tanning beds, and if they are using them, let's consider it a "stupidity tax".

[weezyPJ]

So I'm thinking that you don't do anything that is taxed? It is are right to choose what we do. I think that it is racist to tax tanning because not only because black people do not go tanning but it is majority of people who tan are women.

[twells8272]

I bet you that if they taxed something only black people do ,I bet the NAACP would be right on it.

[closerlook]

jackrussel1 - Cities don't put up traffic lights or railroad crossing gates until there have been a number of accidents or deaths to "justify" the cost. That is little consolation to the people who become the necessary statistics in the equation. Sorry about your two friends who died. Should we ban, or tax, cars, planes, and roller coasters because people who use them have died?

[closerlook]

Hmm... I don't live far from Mr. Boehner. He has a nice tan, but I would guess he got his from the golf course or the beach. As the U.S. population continues to take on an international mix, there will be fewer and fewer people who feel the need for tanning beds anyway. And just like declining income and property tax revenues, this one will dry up too.

And guest 173 we don't need guns to live either. And they create medical expenses that are preventable. So let's tax them. Lawnmowers add to the greenhouse effect, cancer causing ozone depletion, and increased respiratory diseases. Let's tax all but the old push style rotary ones.