Urban Outfitters to Discontinue Products Promoting Rx Drug Abuse

Urban Outfitters announced Friday it will discontinue selling products that promote prescription drug abuse. The move comes after a campaign by public health groups, state attorneys general and legislators.

The national retail store, popular with teens, has been selling pint glasses, flasks and shot glasses made to look like prescription pill bottles. Last month, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids called on consumers to contact Urban Outfitters and ask them to remove the products from their stores and website. A week later, the Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Hal Rogers, urged Urban Outfitters to stop selling the products. In late May, 23 attorneys general sent a letter to Urban Outfitters CEO and Chairman Richard A. Hayne, asking him to remove products promoting prescription drug abuse from the stores’ shelves.

Time.com reports the American Association of Poison Control Centers and 57 local poison centers last week wrote a letter to the company, asking them to pull the products.

In a statement, Urban Outfitters said, “In the 20,000 products that comprise our assortment, there are styles that represent humor, satire, and hyperbole. In this extensive range of product we recognize that from time to time there may be individual items that are misinterpreted by people who are not our customer. As a result of this misinterpretation we are electing to discontinue these few styles from our current product offering.”