On Tanning Salons

Not that fashion is exactly my wheelhouse, but this piece on the growth of tanning salon use among white teenage women and the very real health risks involved is worth a mention, not only because it is a growing public health problem that exists for no good reason, but because tanning salons are stupid. When I was at the University of Oregon in the 1990s, along about February you’d see 95% of students looking as pasty as can be after 4 months of gloom. And then there would be the 5% of young women (although a few guys too) who would be almost obscenely bronzed. They looked ridiculous. Obviously, I wasn’t the target demographic here, but they were putting their health at risk and making themselves look like alien freaks at the same time. Every time I hear about tanning salons, I think of these students.

I’m glad Obamacare forces a 10% tax on tanning salon use. It should probably be regulated as tightly as smoking and highly discouraged.