Md. Senate panel considers indoor tanning ban

State Sen. Jamie Raskin says teenagers should be denied access to electric tanning beds.

Raskin presented his bill to ban minors from indoor tanning beds to the Senate Finance Committee Thursday afternoon.

The legislation would prohibit anyone under 18 from using an electric tanning bed, eliminating a provision in Maryland law that allows minors to tan if they have parental permission.

Last year, California enacted a law to keep minors out of tanning beds and in 2009, Howard County became the first jurisdiction in Maryland to restrict tanning for teenagers.

Opponents of Raskin's bill said a correlation between exposure to ultraviolet rays and skin cancer is not strong enough to warrant banning minors from the beds and that the potential law could hurt business and strips parental rights.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)