Underage Tanning Ban Approved by Assembly Committee

A legislative panel has approved plans to bar anyone under 18 from using tanning beds in New Jersey.

The Assembly’s Women and Children Committee passed the measure Monday by a 5-0 vote, though two members abstained. It now heads to the full Assembly for consideration, but it’s not known when a vote will be held.

The bill expands a 2006 state law that banned tanning bed use by anyone under 14, and requires written parental consent for those ages 14 to 17.

The issue has seen renewed interest after a Nutley woman was accused this month of taking her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth. That allegedly resulted in burns to the child’s skin, and the woman has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment.

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