Urban Outfitters markets marijuana products

    Promotion of marijuana abuse is not uncommon among some clothing distributors in the United States. Not surprisingly, such promotions impact perceptions about the safety and acceptability of marijuana abuse. For example, walk into an Urban Outfitters store and you are likely to find the “Marijuana Chef Cookbook,” a board game called “Stoner City” or “1,000 Weed Games,” or a sponge that grows into a life-like marijuana leaf. These products have community organizations throughout the country concerned that they glamorize and promote marijuana use, with one coalition calling for a boycott of the trendy, youth-friendly store.
    According to Doris Carroll, executive director of the Palm Beach County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, the products insinuate “that it is a good thing to smoke marijuana; that it’s no problem, just grow your own.” Marijuana abuse is not OK and causes physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral changes.
    What particularly concerns coalition leaders is that these products are sold by a chain that is popular among teens and young adults, and is seen as hip and cool. There are 114 Urban Outfitter stores throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
    Sue Staggs, director of the Community Action Partnership for Prevention (CAPP) in Richmond, Texas, is equally concerned. “These products are sending the wrong message to our youth. How can we expect youth to stay away from illegal drugs, when they see products like these in popular stores?” she noted.
    “The products available in your store or online … trivialize the real damage that marijuana does to our kids. Marijuana harms in many ways, and youth are the most vulnerable to its damaging effects. Most importantly, marijuana is an illegal drug,” notes Gen. Arthur T. Dean, CADCA chairman and CEO, in the letter. “I’m asking that you take proactive steps that will demonstrate your respect and concern for your young customer base. Remove these items.”
    This article is a revised reprint of one written CADCA Coalition’s Online publication. The full text of the article is available at: http://cadca.org/CoalitionsOnline/article.asp?id=1716
    What you can do:
• Know where your children shop, what those stores carry, and what your children purchase;
• Boycott stores that sell or promote harmful products; and/or
• Contact Urban Outfitters and tell them you oppose the distribution of products that promote marijuana abuse. The home office switchboard number for the National Corporate Office is 215-564-2313.
    This article was brought to you by Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), a countywide substance abuse prevention collaborative. For more information about ASAP and its prevention efforts contact Clare Desrosiers, project director, at 521-2408.