Is drug use becoming fashionable?
The California-based retail chain Kitson seems to think so. The clothing company recently debuted a new line, featuring jersey-like T-shirts and sweatshirts with prescription drug names on the backs.
The shirts showcase the names of three drugs: Adderall, Xanax and Vicodin, some of the most frequently abused prescription pills. The shirts cost $58; sweatshirts cost $98. The tagline for the collection, posted on Kitson’s website, reads: “Pop one on and you'll feel better. Doctors orders.”
Kitson claims a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the collection will be donated to The Medicine Abuse Project, according to the website. But the project's parent organization, DrugFree.org, said it has yet to receive any donations.
"Were were surprised to see them saying they were donating a portion of the proceeds to us because they never contacted us," Josie Feliz, a rep for DrugFree.org, told FOX411. "We don’t know about any plans they have to donate in the future because we have yet to hear from them."
And they are not the only ones taking notice of the new line. The use of the drug names as part of a fashion trend has the pills’ manufacturers, as well as some consumers, riled up.
The drug-themed apparel -- sold online and at Kitson stores -- claims a portion of the proceeds from sales “Will be donated to the Medicine Abuse Project,” but the project’s partner organization, DrugFree.org, has already called for the company to stop selling the clothing collection.
In a blog post published on Wednesday, DrugFree.org wrote that it has reached out to Kitson’s CEO Christopher Lee to pull the apparel from store racks.
“These products make light of prescription drug abuse, a dangerous behavior that is responsible for more deaths in the United States each year than heroin and cocaine combined,” the post reads.
It also calls on DrugFree.org users to action, asking them to write to the store via their Facebook page, “to let them know that the epidemic of prescription drug abuse is no laughing matter and you want these products removed now.”
Many users have responded, flooding Kitson’s Facebook page with criticism. And the drugs’ manufacturers are also peeved by the use of the meds names on the clothes.
“We are taking this unauthorized use of our trademark very seriously and are considering all possible courses of action,” Pfizer, who manufactures Xanax, told FOX411 in a statement. “Pfizer has no relationship with the designer of this clothing line or the store in which this clothing is being sold and had no involvement in the development or marketing of this clothing line.”
Reps Shrie, the company that manufactures Adderall, had a similar statement: “The use of ‘Adderall’ by Kitson in this manner represents an unauthorized use of Shire’s ‘Adderall’ trademark. Further, the use of ‘Adderall’ in this fashion gravely concerns Shire as it glorifies the misuse and diversion of a federally controlled prescription drug for the treatment of ADHD… Shire is currently assessing its options to address this unauthorized use of the Shire trademark ‘Adderall.’”
Reps for the drug Vicodin could not immediately be reached for comment, but according to TMZ, they are determined to take legal action.
"Prescription drug use should not be trivialized. It is a serious issue and we will be taking legal action to stop the clothing company from trying to sell such a product," reps for the drug told the gossip site.
For now, it seems Kitson is standing behind its new fashion statement. The store, which boasts on its website that its celebrity clientele includes the Kardashians, Heidi Klum and Channing Tatum, posted a message on Facebook on Sunday from the collection's designer Brian Lichtenberg.
“I have created a collection of T-shirts that are a parody of pop culture,” the statement explained. “This particular collection of prescription tees is simply a commentary on what I see happening in our society… A large percentage of Americans are prescribed these drugs by doctors every day for legitimate reasons. These are not illegal substances. These tees are not meant to encourage prescription drug abuse, but if they open the door to a much-needed dialogue, as they seem to be doing now, then mission accomplished.”
Kitson did not immediately return FOX411’s request for further comment.
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