Created: 3/25/2009 6:24:22 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- We may be known as the Sunshine State, but one group of lawmakers wants to make it illegal to tan indoors if you are under the age of 16.
Kayla Collier, Miss Florida Teen, testified before a house committee, urging lawmakers to turn out the lights for fellow teens under age 16.
"I had melanoma when I was 16 years old, so I am obviously all for limiting tanning beds," said Collier.
But one Jacksonville salon owner defends his livelihood, arguing the exposure to tanning rays is carefully controlled.
"It's actually safer to tan indoors than it is at the beach," said Jim McCann.
McCann owns "Heat Waves Tanning" at Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road. With prom season on the horizon, his customer base swells with teens this time of year.
McCann says teens would go to a more dangerous place to tan if the law someday prevents them from coming here.
"Like I said, it's a very safe, controlled environment. You can be 16 and drive a car, so if you're not going to tan here, you're 16...you're going to drive to the beach!"
Mayo plastic surgeon Galen Perdikes warns natural sunlight, or UV-B, and man-made rays, UV-A, are both risky business when it comes to avoiding skin damage and skin cancers.
"UV-A now has also been shown to cause a significant amount of sun damage...particularly on the cells that are dividing early. And those are the teens. Young kids. Their cells are dividing much faster than your cells or my cells," said Dr. Perdikes.
And while the proposed law is just in committee, Miss Florida Teen hopes it will someday become law.
"When I was 16, I was diagnosed with skin cancer," said Collier.
The proposed age restriction on tanning bed use now goes to the house judiciary committee. If it passes there, it will go to the full house for debate, then the Senate, then to the desk of Florida's tanned Governor, Charlie Crist.
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