Coalition aims to get teens out of tanning beds

After moving to Vancouver at the age of 18, Erin Welsh said the months of dreary cloud cover inspired her to seek a quick hit of sun-light in tanning salons.

She was also insecure about her pale skin.

"I had people telling me stuff like, 'You need a healthy glow. You need some colour in your skin,' " she said.

Welsh listened and visited tanning beds regularly for four years. Now re-covering from a Stage 3 melanoma, she says that was the stupidest decision she ever made.

Stories such as hers are encouraging a handful of public health advocacy groups to convince the government to bar tanning beds to anyone under the age of 18.

Welsh is 28. A year ago, she noticed a mole behind her thigh growing darker and more erratic. Last year, she had it removed. After two surgeries, she's still on chemotherapy.

"I am tired most of the time. I haven't been able to work full time be-cause of how tired I get," she said.

"Flu-like symptoms, loss of appetite, I'm losing my hair. All the traditional chemotherapy side effects."

When she told friends about her disease, they said: " 'That's not a real cancer, is it?'

"A lot of people are really naive about it," Welsh said.

Dr. Mike Kalisiak, a dermatologist in the south of Calgary, said more young people are fighting serious cases of skin cancer - probably because of the increased use of tanning beds.

They "are known to cause cancer, including melanoma, which is a deadly form of cancer and can affect even young people," he said. "It's a known risk and we are doing nothing about it."

The Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Dermatology Association, the Alberta Society of Dermatologists and the Alberta Public Health Association have formed a coalition called Indoor Tanning is Out.

Realistically, Kalisiak said, they will be unlikely to persuade avowed tan-loving adults to stay away from tanning beds any more than oncologists can keep smokers from a pack of cigarettes.

But they hope they can reach teen-agers, as young people who use tanning beds are more susceptible to long-term damage.

But the proposal would bar young people from sitting in faker-bakers unnecessarily, said Clara Jasinski, who manages a Fabutan.

"Personally, all I really want to say is that tanning in moderation is beneficial."

Further, young people under the age of 16 are already obliged to come in with a parent. Older teenagers, those between 16 and 18, require a guardian's signature.

Most of her younger clients are only coming in for special occasions, like grad, or to build a base tan before a family holiday, Jasinski said.

"We also do offer sunless tanning," she said.

Kalisiak said he cringes to hear tanning bed advocates talk about the benefits of a little colour. He said studies show that only 10 visits to a tanning bed in one's life-time can double the risk of developing a melanoma.