Indoor tanning is growing rapidly in the United States.  According to the American Academy of Dermatology, about one million people will tan every day.

Morningside had a tanning salon ten minutes away from campus. “I like that it is so close, because it doesn’t take very long to get there, tan, and come back,” said Ashley McConnell.

Almost 70 percent of those who go tanning are Caucasian woman from 16 to 29 years old said the A.A.D. McConnell was not surprised by this, “White girls want to look tan, I know I like to look good and being tan helps me with that.”

There are many dangers that come with tanning. One of the dangers of tanning is the connection to skin cancer. The UV light in tanning beds can also cause skin aging and eye damage.

 Although tanning can be dangerous, there are some positives. A local tanning store owner said, “I get a lot of younger woman who are still in their teens go tanning to help with acne. Also, in the winter people get depressed when the sun is gone, and they go tanning to cure their depression.”

Seasonal depression is common in places where the season go from one extreme to the other. It is more common in woman then men, but seasonal depression can drastically affect people.

Doctors do not prescribe people to go tan at a salon; they just recommend getting more sunlight throughout the day. It may be hard for some get more sunlight, so they decide the next best thing is a tanning bed.

“I know in the winter I miss the heat of the sun, and even though I only lay in the tanning bed for fifteen minutes, I get the feeling I was sitting in the sun all day,” said McConnell.

Although tanning can help with depression, the cost of tanning can keep people away. Stasia Ott commented, “Tanning cost so much money, I am broke from college and would rather buy food. I also don’t want to ruin my skin and have wrinkles in the future.”

President Obama recently put a ten percent tax on tanning. The tanning store owner said she was a little worried the tax would affect her business, but so far there had been no impact.

McConnell said, “I know that tanning is expensive, so I save up all summer and have the money to spend in the winter. I have to tan, and the ten percent tax pissed me off, but it doesn’t make me want to stop.”

The A.A.D. predicts the year of 2010 is estimated to bring 2.6 billion dollars in revenue. “I am not surprised by this number. When you have T.V. shows like the Jersey Shore and their G.T.L., I think it influences people to go tanning in order to look good,” comments Ott.

The tanning store owner stated, “The tanning beds are not the only option, we also have spray tanning that has no health effects. There is the rumor that spray tanning can turn you orange, but if you go to the right place and know what shade your skin can handle, people can save money and their risk for skin cancer.”

McConnell says she is worried about the long term effects of tanning, but right now she is still young and can’t worry about the future too much.