With summer just a few final exams away, students who rely on tanning beds for a golden glow may soon find themselves having to reach deeper into their pockets to get it.

Just a year after the World Health Organization moved tanning beds into its top cancer risk category, the United States government has hopped on board in an attempt to mitigate young people’s abuse of tanning.

A 10 percent tax on tanning beds that passed as a part of President Barack Obama’s health care reform package earlier this year will go into effect July 1, worrying the luxury business. While some students think the tax will serve its purpose, others say they’re going to keep their summer glow no matter what.

Junior art major Jesse Ashkin said she thinks the tax could help her peers realize the dangers of tanning and kick the habit. She said she hopes it will push young tanning addicts to embrace pale, healthy skin.

“I think it’s a great idea, after the studies that came out this summer that showed that tanning is just as bad for you as arsenic and mustard gas, I gave up going tanning and seriously encouraged my friends to do the same,” Ashkin said. “For those who decided to ignore the study’s finding and still go, I hope this increase in price will make them once again think twice before they bake themselves in a bed.”

But many students claimed the extra charge will do nothing to suppress their tanning habits. Jenn Glass, a sophomore letters and sciences major, is far from the only student who feels being tan outweighs the risks involved with tanning beds.

She said she goes to the tanning salon about once a week “when the weather is nice and I start to wear shorts.” She also said she won’t stop, even if it costs her a little more.

Danielle Jenkins, an employee at The Beach Tanning Center — an off-campus tanning salon — said while she’s aware of the risk of tanning, she believes it’s OK in moderation and the students who go to the salon don’t express worries when they come in. She also said Obama’s tax may affect business, but the salon plans to “make accommodations as we see necessary.”

Experts in the industry feel the tax unfairly targets them and will undoubtedly hurt business.

“The majority of the customers are women and not wealthy people, but college students and working women — people that are on budgets,” said John Overstreet, the executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association.

Junior education major Betsey Parr is in favor of the tax for that very reason — that students will struggle to afford it and have to weigh the cost on both their body and their wallet. A WHO analysis of about 20 studies concluded that risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people use tanning beds before age 30 and can cause premature wrinkles, eye damage and a weaker immune system.

Dr. William James, president of the American Academy of Dermatology, released a statement saying an indoor tanning tax will hopefully “serve as a signal from the federal government to young people that indoor tanning is dangerous and should be avoided.”

farrell at umdbk dot com