D.C. doesn’t want you to have any regrets. The District of Columbia Health Department has proposed a 24-hour waiting period before anyone can ink themselves with “body art.” The tattoo wait time is only one of many previsions inside a 66-page package of proposed safety provisions such as ensuring the use of fresh needles, safe inks, and clean gloves, according to NPR.
“We’re making sure when that decision is made that you’re in the right frame of mind,” says Najma Roberts, a Health Department spokeswoman. “And you don’t wake up in the morning saying, ‘Oh my God, what happened?’”
Tattoo parlors can often be found next to bars, and though tattoo artists say they refrain from inking clearly intoxicated individuals, they worry they will still lose business. D.C. would be the largest city in the country to mandate a tattoo waiting period.
[NPR]