Trouble is, tanning can lead to skin cancer. And now the Beach Boys' generation, together with their children and grandchildren, are reaping a harvest of melanoma, a sometimes fatal form of skin cancer.

One of the saddest parts of this story is the high school kids of today who use tanning beds to get that sexy, golden brown glow. They don't know, or don't care, that they are setting themselves up for disease decades later in their lives. Kids live in the moment.

But doctors know. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage people to avoid using tanning beds and sun lamps.

The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Dermatology take an even tougher line. They would ban the sale and use of tanning equipment for nonmedical purposes.

Which brings us to the former wannabe surfer dudes at the Utah Legislature. They remember who Moondoggie was. They also are considering a bill that would require written parental permission for minor children to patronize tanning salons.

Frankly, we would throw in with the AMA on this one and ban tanning salons outright.

But we understand that in Utah, where even government regulation to protect public health is suspected of being some kind of commie plot, parental permission may be as far as the Legislature is willing to go, at least until more lawmakers' wives and daughters who have used tanning beds get skin cancer.

The surf is up on this issue partly because the Davis County Board of Health passed a regulation last month requiring parents to give their permission in person each time a minor child uses a commercial tanning bed. We believe that this would do more to protect children's health than the written permission specifying the number of visits that is part of the bill before the Legislature.

Or, the Legislature could simply prohibit minor children from using tanning salons. Utah doesn't allow kids under 19 to buy cigarettes because they are a known carcinogen. So are tanning beds.