Urban Outfitters Crosses the Line with Pens Resembling Hypodermic Needles

First it was the marijuana cook book and games for “stoners”, then the t-shirts promoting underage drinking and who can forget the flasks and glasses made to resemble prescription drug bottles? Now Urban Outfitters, the retail store popular with young teens, is at it again but have they crossed the line? To promote their new partnership with a salon called Hairroin, Urban Outfitters gave away promotional pens made to resemble hypodermic needles at their newest flagship store in New York City.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that the move has angered some New Yorkers who find the giveaways offensive and distasteful. CADCA couldn’t agree more. That’s why CADCA Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur T. Dean, wrote a letter to Urban Outfitters President and CEO Richard Haynes asking that they stop making light of drug use, especially when rates of heroin-related overdose rates are on the rise in the New York region.  

“At a time when our nation is facing an increase of heroin users, particularly among young adults aged 18-25, and many regions, including the New York area, are seeing heroin epidemics, giving out pens that resemble hypodermic needles is irresponsible and unacceptable. Not only does it send the wrong message to young people, who frequent your store, it also makes light of a serious problem that is killing both young and old every day,” said CADCA’s Gen. Dean said in his letter.

In the letter, CADCA asks that Urban Outfitters stop making light of a serious public health problem and discontinue giving away these pens or any products that promote or glamorize drug or alcohol use. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
If you agree that this latest move is unacceptable and reprehensible, write a letter on behalf of your coalition to Urban Outfitters expressing your outrage. Feel free to use CADCA’s letteras a template.  

Here’s the address you can send your letters to:
Mr. Richard Hayne
President and CEO
Urban Outfitters
5000 South Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19112

SEE ALSO:

CADCA Responds to Retail Chain Glamorizing Rx Abuse

Help Get Urban Outfitters to Pull Pro-Alcohol T-Shirt Line Off Shelves

Prevention Leaders Concerned About Urban Outfitters Marijuana Products

Methamphetamine-related Hospital Emergency Department Visits on The Rise

Hospital emergency department visits related to the use of methamphetamine rose from 67,954 in 2007 to 102,961 in 2011 according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Overall, there were 1,252,500 visits to hospital emergency departments linked to the use of all illicit drugs.

Methamphetamine, or meth, has a high potential for abuse and addiction and can cause a wide array of potentially harmful intoxicating effects, including altered judgment and reduced inhibitions, leading to unsafe behaviors. The drug can also cause severe dental problems, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior. Long term methamphetamine users may display psychotic manifestations, including paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions.

 “This report shows that methamphetamine use may be on the rise again, and we must do everything we can to address this serious public health problem,” said Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. “One important step is to use the hospital emergency department visit as a critical opportunity to talk to, and intervene with, people using this drug so that they can more fully understand its dangers and where they can turn to for help.”

People using the drug who are also taking antidepressants may experience dangerously high blood pressure, overheating, seizures, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.

Emergency department visits associated with methamphetamine significantly decreased between 2005 to 2007, but then rose between 2009 and 2011. From 2007 to 2011, there were significant increases in methamphetamine-related hospital visits involving those aged 25 to 34 and those aged 55 and older.

The report also found that in 2011, 62 percent of these methamphetamine-related emergency visits involved the use of this drug with at least one other substance. Twenty-nine percent of methamphetamine-related emergency hospital visits involved combined use with one other drug, and 33 percent involved combination use with two or more drugs. 

In 2011, the top two substance combinations for methamphetamine-related emergency departments were marijuana (22 percent) and alcohol (16 percent). These were also the top two combinations in 2008.

The report, Emergency Department Visits Involving Methamphetamine: 2007 to 2011, is drawn from SAMHSA’s 2007 to 2011 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) – a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related emergency department visits in the United States.

College Students Perceive Hookah Smoking to Be Safe and Socially Acceptable

Educational campaigns meant to dissuade college students from initiating hookah tobacco smoking may be more successful if they combat positive perceptions of hookah use as attractive and romantic, rather than focusing solely on the harmful components of hookah tobacco smoke, a new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study found.

The research, supported by the National Cancer Institute, examined the sequence of events around which university students first smoke tobacco from a hookah, also known as a water pipe, in an effort to determine the driving factors behind the decision. It will be published in the June issue of the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research and is online now. Because hookah tobacco smoking exposes the user to substantial amounts of toxicants such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, carcinogens and tar, initiation of this behavior is of concern.

"It was surprising to learn that college students, even when they were aware of the health dangers associated with hookah tobacco smoking at baseline, still went on to use a hookah for the first time," said lead author Jaime Sidani, Ph.D., M.P.H., senior research specialist in the Program for Research on Media and Health (PROMH) at Pitt. "However, students who had less positive attitudes toward hookah smoking were significantly less likely to initiate. This suggests that countering positive attitudes may be at least as effective as emphasizing harm in preventing initiation of hookah tobacco smoking."

Dr. Sidani and her colleagues analyzed a sample of 569 first- and second-year University of Florida college students who were surveyed twice over a seven-month period about their attitudes, knowledge and behaviors regarding hookah smoking. During that time, 13 percent of the students initiated hookah tobacco use.

The students were more likely to initiate hookah use if they had positive attitudes toward hookah smoking - which is frequently promoted as relaxing, pleasurable, fun and sexual - and if they thought it was a socially acceptable practice among their peers.

"Hookah tobacco smoking does not seem to be hampered by many of the negative social stigmas of cigarette smoking," said Dr. Sidani. "If educational programs can help students to cut through the positive portrayals and marketing of hookah smoking, it may be possible to make hookah smoking less attractive and socially acceptable, resulting in less initiation."

Senior author Brian Primack, M.D., Ph.D., director of PROMH, added that regulation of hookah tobacco smoking and marketing in the United States is confusing and less rigorous than laws meant to prevent cigarette smoking, which may contribute to misperceptions around hookah smoking.

"Clear policy measures addressing the sale and marketing of hookah products and regulation of hookah bars and cafes may be another way to counteract the positive attitudes young adults hold toward hookah smoking," Dr. Primack said.

SEE ALSO:

E-cigarettes, Hookah and Other Smokeless Tobacco Products (webinar recording)

Hookah Smoking: The Sweet Tobacco with Not-So-Sweet Risks

Cigarette Smoking Among High School Students at Lowest Level in 22 Years

Cigarette smoking rates among high school students have dropped to the lowest levels since theNational Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) began in 1991, according to the 2013 results released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By achieving a teen smoking rate of 15.7 percent, the United States has met its national Healthy People 2020 objective of reducing adolescent cigarette use to 16 percent or less.

Despite this progress, reducing overall tobacco use remains a significant challenge. For example, other national surveys show increases in hookah and e-cigarette use. In the YRBS, no change in smokeless tobacco use was observed among adolescents since 1999, and the decline in cigar use has slowed in recent years, with cigar use now at 23 percent among male high school seniors.

“It’s encouraging that high school students are making better health choices such as not fighting, not smoking, and not having sex,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Way too many young people still smoke and other areas such as texting while driving remain a challenge. Our youth are our future. We need to invest in programs that help them make healthy choices so they live long, healthy lives.”

The YRBS provides data related to behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence. The 2013 survey also found encouraging reductions in physical fighting among adolescents, with fewer high school students engaged in physical fights – down to 25 percent in 2013 compared to 42 percent in 1991.