Tattoo craze stirs concern about public health

cheap jerseys As tattooing and other types of body art piercing, scarification, branding become more mainstream and more popular, officials in states and cities across cheap jerseys the US are scrutinizing shops that perform such services. cheap jerseys Most states are crying, "stricter regulations." Alaska, for one, last week got a bill to let the state regulate and inspect tattoo and body piercing shops. In Colorado, a wholesale jerseys bill to outlaw tattooing or piercing anyone under 18 without a parent's permission is moving through the legislature. cheap jerseys A few states such as Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and South Carolina still outlaw tattooing. Now, Massachusetts is a test of states' ability to deny the practice in this age of acceptance. cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys china Assault on tattoo ban Cheap Jerseys china The 38 year ban here is being bombarded on all sides. Some lawmakers are looking to legalize tattooing. And the American Civil Liberties Union has brought a lawsuit on behalf of two Martha's Vineyard tattoo artists, wholesale nfl jerseys who also want tattooing to be legal. "I'm not a fan of tattoos," says state Rep. David Tuttle, who introduced the House bill. "But there's a tremendous underground market in tattooing here. Why not legalize it, regulate it, and ensure it's done properly?" Cheap Jerseys china Mr. Tuttle's bill would legalize tattooing for wholesale jerseys anyone 18 or older and would also wholesale nfl jerseys regulate the body piercing business. This would safeguard public health better than an "arcane" law, he says. Cheap Jerseys china cheap jerseys While Tuttle's daughter is still only a toddler, he knows that teenage girls are wholesale nfl jerseys one of the fastest growing groups sporting ankle tattoos, navel rings, wholesale nfl jerseys and pierced tongues. "If my daughter turns 18 and decides she wants a tattoo, I want her to get it done in a facility that is clean and regularly inspected," he says. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys Public health is the same plea the state attorney general makes when arguing to keep the ban. Massachusetts outlawed tattooing in 1962 after a hepatitis scare, and officials still point to problems with tainted needles and infections from dyes. The US Food and Drug Administration claims none of the dyes used in tattooing is safe, says Edward DeAngelo, an assistant attorney general arguing to keep the ban. cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys china But the state's own Nancy Ridley, who works at the Department of Public Health, says it would be safer to legalize and regulate tattooing than to perpetuate the underground market. Cheap Jerseys china cheap nfl jerseys As the legislature debates tattooing, Tuttle frets that time is of the essence. A Superior Court judge has already heard a case concerning the tattoo ban and could rule to allow the practice before Massachusetts lawmakers have any regulations in place. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys from china The case turns on the constitutional issue of free speech, with the ACLU claiming tattooing is protected under the First Amendment and, thus, cannot be stifled by state law. wholesale nfl jerseys from china wholesale jerseys "People who have tattoos use their bodies as billboards to express their views to the cheap nfl jerseys world: who they love, who they hate,. their religious beliefs, their political beliefs," says Harvey Schwartz, a Boston lawyer who argued the case for the ACLU. Such tattooed messages should have the same protections as other art forms, he says. He moved from Martha's Vineyard to New York to work in a tattoo parlor, but is trying to change Massachusetts' law so he can return. wholesale jerseys "Tattooing is a way of life for me, a way of expressing myself," says Mr. Lanphear, a towering man adorned with dozens of silver hoops and studs. A tattoo of a colorful bird flies around his neck, and his wholesale jerseys back is covered with a depiction of a fierce Tibetan Mahakala mask with sharp teeth. He says if the Massachusetts law is not changed, he will come back and work underground. As for the meaning behind the mask: "It's deep," is all he will say.