Anti-cancer group: Ban tanning beds for younger than 18

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Health advocates are asking Mississippi lawmakers to ban people younger than 18 from using tanning beds.

They say teenagers put themselves at risk of cancer while tanning for proms or other events.

Several other states, including Louisiana and Texas, have already enacted such a ban. This will be the fourth year for the American Cancer Society’s lobbying group to push for one in Mississippi.

Katie Shepherd, a 39-year-old Leakesville resident, says she started using tanning beds in college. The mother of three says she was diagnosed with melanoma in 2014 and thinks there was a direct link between the tanning beds and her condition. She is now cancer-free.

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