Some of indoor tanning’s most zealous critics are out to prove that indoor tanning is an addictive behavior — comparing people’s desire to get sunshine to a drug addict’s desire to get her or his next fix.

“Tanning is not an addiction. It’s an attraction,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “Humans are supposed to be attracted to UV light. We need it to live. To call it an addiction is like saying that people are addicted to oxygen or water. It just isn’t accurate.”

Here’s the core science that these researchers are twisting: Ultraviolet light exposure produces endorphins in the skin — substances that literally make us feel good. Because sunshine is natural and humans need sunshine in order to be healthy, endorphin production is nature’s way of telling us that sunshine is good.

This is just another case of how the anti-tanning lobby builds its case politically rather than weighing all of the science objectively. Ten years ago they claimed there were no benefits at all of sun exposure. Today, with the science stacking up in favor of sensible sun exposure, they’re clinging to their guns, telling us that unnatural, pharmaceutically produced pills are better sources of vitamin D and that tanning is akin to narcotics. They’re strung out on their own press.

For more information visit Smart Tan’s consumer web site, www.TanningTruth.com.