Saskatchewan continues to reject banning young people from using tanning beds

REGINA – The Saskatchewan government continues to reject the idea of banning young people from using tanning beds despite their link to melanoma — a deadly form of skin cancer.

The Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Dermatology Association met with lawmakers in Regina Monday to make another pitch for legislation.

They also shared the results of an Ipsos Reid poll done in January that suggests 83 per cent of adults surveyed in the province would support such a ban.

Health Minister Dustin Duncan says the government will continue studying what other jurisdictions are doing, but doesn’t like the idea of prohibiting people under 18 or 19 from indoor tanning.

He says such a ban would not deal with the problem of people getting too much sun outside.

Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba are the only provinces that don’t ban youths from using tanning beds.