Just when thought tans were hopelessly passe, they're back in the news in a big way.

We reported last week on the move to ban underage tanning in Texas, but it turns out that Lone Star state legislators aren't the only ones thinking about teenage skin. Florida is among 17 states considering banning teens from tanning salons, and Miss Florida Teen USA Kayla Collier is campaigning for the cause after developing skin cancer when she was only 15, having frequented tanning salons for less than one year.

According to a 2002 study, one quarter of teens aged 15 - 18 had visited a tanning bed. And while only about 500 people age 19 and under were diagnosed with melanoma (the most severe form of skin cancer) in 2005, over a million people are diagnosed with skin cancer yearly - and early overexposure to UV rays is one of the leading factors linked to skin cancer. It also doesn't help that many teens feel invincible and become addicted to artificially tan skin. "I know teenagers that go every day, every week, twice a day sometimes to tanning beds," said Collier at a press conference in Tallahasee, FL.

Tanning salon owners insist their product is safer than tanning outside because you're less likely to get a sunburn, but the beds do emit UVA radiation which, while less likely to cause sunburn, cause deeper epidermal damage -- not only a risk factor for cancer but also for premature aging of the skin. (An easy way to remember this is that UVA rays = Aging, UVB = Burning.) Either way, it's not pretty.

As the debate rages on, we'd love to hear your thoughts.