WORLD GONE MAD: Senator Carlucci & Leaders Against Drug Abuse Denounce Lewd Marketing Campaign that Celebrates Heroin Use

NANUET- Clothing store Urban Outfitters is now featuring a hair salon in a New York City store called “Hairroin,” where shoppers have been receiving promotional hypodermic needle pens with “I Love Hairroin” written on the pens. Senator David Carlucci and advocates against drug abuse throughout the area released statements condemning the cheap marketing technique.

Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) said, “This year New York stopped ignoring the heroin epidemic that is ravaging our communities and worked hard to pass meaningful reform for people suffering from addiction. As we made steps in the right direction, corporations like Urban Outfitters and Hairroin Salon have worked to glamorize the use of heroin and the disease of addiction.

Senator Carlucci continued, “A new promotion for the Hairroin Salon opening in their first New York City location gives shoppers promotional hypodermic needle writing pens with ‘I Love Hairroin’ written on the product. The salon itself promotes an ‘Addicted to Style’ campaign. This disgusting promotion has no place in New York and I call on CEO Tedford Marlow to apologize to the victims of addiction in New York. We have worked too hard in New York for addiction to become a promotion tool.”

Michael Zall, Suffern resident whose son Jeremy died in 2013 of a drug overdose, “Such a marketing technique in today’s environment where close to 40,000 children are dying each year from drug overdoses and over Twenty Million people suffer from substance dependence and abuse, is despicable and clearly demonstrates that Urban Outfitters and their marketing team are insensitive to the public’s pain on this issue.”

Janet Rivera of Parents Helping Parents said, “It’s sad that a company whose target market is young men and women, would partner with a salon that glamorizes Heroin. The current Heroin epidemic is claiming way too many young lives, and while a drug theme might not encourage someone to use Heroin, it certainly sends a message that it’s as cool and hip as the salon and the store that feature it.”