Re: The War on Tanning Beds

Ryan Hick writes:

As a dermatologist, I am adamantly opposed to the use of tanning beds for the purpose of tanning. I diagnose way too many of those potentially lethal melanomas in patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s. That being said, I am just as opposed to efforts by state and federal governments (often under pressure from medical societies like the American Academy of Dermatology) to regulate the tanning bed industry. There is clearly no constitutional basis for doing so and similar to many potentially harmful activities, it is the responsibility of the user to know what they are getting themselves into when they use tanning beds (or lay out in the sun, or drink, or smoke, or get tattoos & piercings, etc). Restricting access to these pay-for-service tanning salons will only drive the demand to other options, such as just standing out in the sun or moving to sunnier states. Unfortunately, many of the medical societies which push for such legislation, rather than just sticking with the public education campaigns, are headed up by statists and academicians (sorry if I repeat myself) who believe that the best way to do something is to use legal prohibition backed by the use of force.

Tanning beds can actually serve an important therapeutic role. Dermatologists not infrequently prescribe UV light therapy for difficult-to-treat conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and cutaneous T cell lymphoma (a rare type of blood cancer affecting the skin). UV light is actually immunosuppressive in these conditions and helps to treat these patients. In rural areas, where access to the expensive medical grade UV phototherapy units is very limited, tanning salons may be the only option available for these often miserable patients.

In addition to confirming my hunch about the unintended consequences of a tanning bed ban, this note illustrates a principled anti-state stand. As professionals in our various fields (or even casual observers), we can be opposed to a private behavior because we believe it to be harmful. But, while our colleagues may use the state guns to enforce their beliefs, we know that this is an even greater wrong.

UPDATE: Skip Oliva writes about the suspicious timing of a censorship order imposed on the Indoor Tanning Association just last week by the FTC, stating that “It’s fairly unusual for the FTC to censor an entire trade association versus individual sellers.”

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5:07 am on May 28, 2010