VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – If you’re a teen wanting a tan, you’ll have to rely on a sunny vacation somewhere else.  A ban on underage tanning takes effect today across BC.

The only way someone under 18 can use a tanning bed is with a prescription and any business that doesn’t comply could face a $345 fine for each offence.

The province made the changes under the Public Health Act last March in hopes of reducing the changes people will develop skin cancer later in life.

The BC Cancer Agency says roughly 966 British Columbians will have been diagnosed with the skin cancer melanoma by the end of 2012, while 150 people will die from it.

“As a stage four melanoma survivor, I am living proof of the dangers of tanning as a young person. There are not many of us still alive. That’s why I applaud this regulation. If there is anything we can do to prevent skin cancer later in life, we can save hundreds of families from being ripped apart by this disease,” says Kathleen Barnard with the Save Your Skin Foundation.

The World Health Organization says indoor tanning before the age of 35 boosts the risks of developing melanoma by 75 per cent, but while incidence rates in Canada are rising it is also one of the most preventable cancers out there.