Stricter tanning salon rules for minors given preliminary approval in Senate

Utah parents would be required to accompany minors and give their written consent at each session at a tanning salon under a bill given preliminary approval by the Utah Senate Tuesday.
SB41, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Salt Lake, would establish similar requirements to minors obtaining body piercing or tattoos. “If we do it for tattoos, if we can do it for body piercing, why wouldn’t we do that for tanning, which is much more dangerous?” Jones said.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, a melanoma survivor, said he worries about Utah becoming a “nanny state.”
While he did not support Jones’ bill, and said he will introduce a substitute. A parental consent form should have a Utah Department of Health logo. Stephenson said he would also like the state to provide photographs of melanomas so the public can identify them early and seek medical care.
Stephenson said he looks forward to the day that the pale, skin tone of actress Nicole Kidman is the “desirable object instead of everybody wanting to be tan.”