Roland’s Tanning Salon is the second business in Maine to have an oxygen bar.

PORTLAND (AP) – A salon hopes people will be willing to pay to breathe in the sweet smell of pure oxygen.

Ronald’s Tanning Salon in Portland recently became the second establishment in the state to add an oxygen bar, showing that the trend that started on the West Coast has now stretched all the way across the country.

Nightclubs and huge Las Vegas casinos picked them up first but now they’re used in coffee shops, doctor’s offices and day spas.

Oasis, a major supplier of oxygen bar equipment based in Sarasota, Fla., cites increased energy and alertness and elimination of stress as just a few of the many bonuses from oxygen’s “natural high.”

But whether dispensing oxygen provides real benefits or is even allowable without a license is still unclear.

The first Maine business known to have an oxygen “station” was a chiropractor’s office in Farmingdale, which uses equipment supplied by Oasis in combination with massage chairs. Ronald’s also uses a tandem Oasis setup.

Corey McAllister, owner of the Forest Avenue salon, decided to try it after seeing an ad in a tanning magazine.

“I originally wanted to hook them up through the tanning beds. I had read that increased blood flow from the high oxygen helps tanning,” McAllister said. “I want to know that it works first.”

For 50 cents a minute, a customer can sit down, take a tube and inhale a supply of 92 percent oxygen scented with pure lavender and tangerine-flavored oxygen. Or mountain berry. Or juniper.

“I think we’ll see a lot of people in the winter coming to clear their sinuses. Or in the spring because of allergies,” he said.

But the line between decadent treat and medical treatment is blurry.

The American Lung Association has warned that because the tube that carries the oxygen isn’t sealed to the face, and because the oxygen passes through a scented liquid, the real oxygen intake is less than 50 percent pure.

The benefits, the ALA says, are also questionable.

“It really doesn’t do anything,” said Jane Ann McNeish, a spokeswoman for the ALA of Maine. “It’s kind of like throwing your money away.”

The Food and Drug Administration forbids bars from saying they can treat or cure specific conditions. The agency also asserts that people who use oxygen equipment are actually dispensing a prescription drug.

But states are generally left to themselves to judge the legality of oxygen bars.

According to Michael Nugent, inspection services manager for the city of Portland, licensing requirements for oxygen bars don’t exist in Maine because there hasn’t been a need.

At $4,000, his oxygen station wasn’t cheap, but McAllister expects it to be a profitable addition to his business. He’s relying mostly on word of mouth to attract customers.

“I think it will spread,” McAllister said. “It’s much like the tanning industry. People come in with headaches and say they feel better after using it. People who are hung over come in and get better. Well, not totally, but it does make them feel better.”

AP-ES-10-06-03 0216EDT