Nanny State Alert

Indiana lawmakers find it "disturbing" that a 15 year-old girl would strip naked in order to receive a spray-on tan. Republican State Rep. Bruce Borders has jumped on this like flies on manure.

"I definitely would be interested in taking a look at that. I think it is one of those things that you can remedy a problem without doing away with the (spray) process. Obviously those spray-on tans from what we know are not an unsafe thing," he said. "That's one of those laws that would be ready-made for some good testimony. It's one of those that is almost fitting to have a good law written. Some things are kind of messy and I don't think that one would be that hard to tweak and make it work and make a good law to protect minors."

Stop, stop, stop writing laws for every single incident where parenting is the best choice. Nothing happened to this girl, and the vast majority of males out there are not child predators. We have to stop punishing innocent people for the transgressions of the few.

Democratic State Rep. Sandy Blanton has also flown onto the pile.

"I am just shocked that the girl would get nude and that the fellow (the salon owner) would ask her to. I'm just shocked about the whole situation. This is something that definitely needs looked into. My teenage daughter is 39 years old now, but I don't think I'd like it very much for her to have to go through something like that even at 39."

Even at age 39? Is this person nuts? Is this pol seriously considering requiring people of all ages to be clothed in tanning salons?

These are dangerous people, looking to control every aspect of your life. Just wait until they find out that people are actually naked at nudist resorts. Please make politicians like this go away. Are you registered to vote?

Note: The Mayo Clinic confirms that spray-tanning is safe.

The Truth About Tanning

Let me just say right off that I don't know what the truth is about tanning.

I don't think anybody does.

An article today by Dr. Arthur Caplan seems to be saying that if you go to a tanning booth, or to a beach, you are going to get skin cancer.

Half of all cancers in the United States are skin cancers. Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, accounts for about 60,000 cases and causes 11,000 deaths every year in the U.S. We spend nearly a billion dollars each year treating melanomas.

So who are you going to listen to — a bunch of folks in white coats with lots of degrees who make money sawing cancerous bits off sun worshippers — or the guy with a store full of coffins with light bulbs at a strip mall?

OK, that sound pretty bad. But according to the Center for Disease Control (.pdf), skin cancer does not even fall into the top 15 for leading causes of death. Between 2004-2005, 652,000 people died from heart disease - nearly sixty times as many as from skin cancer. Over 18,000 people died from assault. And the "billion dollars" spent on melanomas is the cost of a couple of days in the Iraq war.

In addition, some doctors are now recommending people to "soak up the sun" to prevent a vitamin D deficiency.

Just this week, a new study showed that people with a vitamin D deficiency are likely to die sooner than people whose blood contains higher amounts. Death rates from any cause, as well as from heart-related problems, varied greatly depending on vitamin D, it showed.

So the truth lies somewhere in between. Certainly there are people that are at greater risk of getting skin cancer, based upon pigmentation and heredity. And it also seems like doctors universally condemn tanning booths because of the extreme dosage of ultraviolet rays bombarding the body in such a short time.

The vitamin D study indicates that D deficiencies are actually causing mortality rates to increase for other diseases, such as of the heart, and other cancers. A little exposure to the sun, for many people, is natural and healthy for the body.

If you have any doubts, consult a doctor first, and take a look at your family history. And if you do decide to allow the sun to caress your skin, get a good sunblock. And have fun.

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