This probably won't go over well.

I mean, why advertise a pharmacy to kids? That's just inane. How many of these tykes are trying to decide where to fill their Xanax prescriptions?

@cmkennedy: But they are all on Ritalin. Such an over prescribed drug!

Is this article trying to tell me that my prescription bottles aren't full of tasty treats, because they are.

"I guess that's better than filling Dots boxes with Vicodin." Says you... Where can I sign up?

Someone in the pharmacy had to have been involved and didn't see this as a really bad idea. The same person making sure you get the right drugs.

Holy Mother of bad ideas!

When I was a toddler, mom and dad were putting "Mr. Yuck" Stickers on the stuff that wasn't kid-safe for consumption!

There is no logical reason that a pharmacy desk should market to children in any way. Children cant even fill perscriptions, correct?

@cmkennedy:

Kids arent the only people who eat candy

@bohemian: Pharmacist involved or not, it's another example of people who are in charge lacking intelligence and creativity. This is beyond poor judgment, it's utter stupidity.

I suppose their next promotion might be to coat all of their cutlery in honey?

Idiots.

@enthreeoh: I know sounds like Halloween for Gregory House.

Huh...maybe I was right? It is kind of odd to get my jelly beans in a Fleet enema bottle.

I wondered why the flavor seemed a little flat.

@Gorphlog: Then they should be handing the pill bottles to the adults, not the kids:

...an employee was handing my two daughters actual prescription pill bottles with candy packed in them.

Oh, and OT: I hate web sites that accuse you of trying to steal from them just because you want to right click.

@Jim Topoleski: haha, I was thinking of him as I wrote that.

@thebluepill: what's worse is, like the article states, kids may associate pill bottles with candy after this. i wonder how many lawyers are chomping at the bit for lawsuits on this one...

btw, your username is somewhat ironic in the context of this article :)

Wow, stunning stupidity. And it could've been a good idea, too. I pick up scripts at different pharmacies, depending on time of day and my location. However, if there was one that gave out free candy, you know, NOT IN THE SCRIPT BOTTLES THEMSELVES, my kid would be bugging me to go to that one. Hell, I'd probably go without his impetus. I like candy. So that way, it's the PLACE that the kid associates with candy, not those little amber bottles.

The place I grocery shop at has free cookies for kids. I'm not saying I do whatever my son begs me to do, but he will definitely voice his opinion if I consider going to a different store. Luckily, the cookies don't come packaged in skoal tins.

If only child proof lids weren't so easy for kids to open, and so damn hard for adults, maybe more scripts would come in them.

@thebluepill: Haha! Mr Yuck stickers? Where do I get those for my toddler? :)

Gee, did they put safety-caps on the vials?

I can't think of a worse idea for a kid-related giveaway. The idea that those pretty pills are candy will be reinforced. So now if they want more candy, where do they go? If they had to put something into a prescription container, there are any number of smaller - age-appropriate toys they could have used.

Sam's Club has just taken three giant steps backwards in the medication safety arena. I'd be willing to bet they didn't consult the pharmacists about the promotion.
As a pharmacist, I'm totally appalled.

@bohemian: That's just depressing.

I agree with the anonymous comment on the Salisbury News page that said this: "Whoever thought of this promotion should be made to do volunteer work at Poison Control and see how many kids take pills thinking they are candy."

Is it too early for nominations for 2010 WCiA?

This is incredibly stupid. And 'incredibly' is the right word. I don't understand how someone could be so stupid.

I would love to have a gallon sized jug of nerds.

All I can think of is thia PSA from the 80's that played all the time when I was a kid!

"On the downside, as a pill recipient at Salisbury News notes, "Now my 3 year old thinks all prescription pill bottles are just tasty snacks"."

Sam's Club was stupid to give the candy out in pill bottles, but why would you let your kids eat the candy when this result is foreseeable?

oh this is where I grew up, it does not surprise me. The people in this town don't...what's the word....read a lot.

@chipslave: How do you know? What percentage of what age kids are on Ritalin? As an elementary school teacher, I have to say your assessment is way off. These days, even special needs kids are not necessarily medicated. Usually medication is reserved for students with demonstrable neurological disorders, and in those cases the effects are closely monitored and frequently reassessed by teachers, pediatricians, and specialists (such as occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc.)

@Cant_stop_the_rock: Taking candy from a baby is much easier than taking candy from a 3 year old who is determined to get that candy with every fiber of his/her being. This is especially bad if you are just beginning your shopping run knowing that it is about to become a screaming tantrum-fest.

It doesn't matter how disciplined your kids are. IF they know what candy is, and they get candy, and then you take that candy away - they are going to not be happy.

@winshape: And even when you do take the candy away, it's too late. The connection has already been made: little amber bottles = candy. (Also, person who took the candy away from me = the devil).

I would like to have been a fly on the wall when they were having the conversation about this promotion. Who was there, and at what point did those individuals decide that sending a confusing message to impressionable children about the dangers of medicine was a good idea?

@Carso: "Hey, I know! They put prizes in breakfast cereal, right? Well...."

@Ann O'Dyne: "I can't think of a worse idea for a kid-related giveaway."

What if they hid the candy in full bottles of actual prescription medication?

@starzshine:

[www.upmc.com]

@starzshine:

To request a free sheet of
Mr. Yuk stickers, please send a self-addressed, stamped business size envelope to:

Mr. Yuk
Pittsburgh Poison Center
UPMC
200 Lothrop Street
BIR 010701
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

WOW, teaching kids that drugs from the pharmacy are "candy".

I betcha Wal-Mart (who owns Sams) sees this and gets to that store PRONTO before this ends up in national news. A store manager is about to be fired. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

@takes_so_little: Is it safe to say that this generation of children are way more medicated than their predecessors? Possibly even the most medicated ever?

It's really going to cut down on my candy consumption if I have to get a doctor's prescription for it.

@Cant_stop_the_rock: We don't know from the article whether or not they let the kids eat it, we only know the kids were handed the bottle before they could stop them.

@HiPwr: Children aren't the only ones who are over-medicated. Throw alcohol and caffeine into the mix and I bet almost 99% of America is on one kind of drug or another.

@thebluepill:

"Holy Mother of bad ideas!"

My thought exactly. Wow.

Similar Story:

I was a Nissan owner in the Fall of 2001. At the height of 9/11 and the Anthrax mail scares, Nissan launched its 'Prescription for the Common Car' mailing campaign complete with an prescription bottle stuffed with literature inside. About a week later, a very red-faced apology letter also arrived, begging for forgiveness.

Another thing wrong with this is that a complete stranger is giving the candy to the kids without their parents permission. If they'd asked the parents if it was OK first at least then they'd have had the chance to say 'No'.

@Rectilinear Propagation: Gah, missed an apostrophe.

@bohemian: I re-read the article and the kids got the pill bottle full of candy at the entrance, not at the pharmacy itself. So it might not have needed an OK from someone in the pharmacy.

@changed my name: GAH, "Dangerous" by Busta Rhymes song stuck in my head!

@changed my name: God, that's f'ing hilarious.

"No, no, noo, Nooooo!"

Thanks.

@txinfo: I'll take one, too. Grape, please!

@takes_so_little: In my homeroom in high school, we sat at large tables that sat 7 kids. At my table, I was one of 5 kids on Ritalin, Concerta or adderall. This is just an anecdote, but I went to school with sooo many kids on medication. The pediatrician who prescribed it never spoke a word to me (only to my parents) before she wrote the prescription, nor did she suggest behavioral therapy to my parents, as she should have. You could say she handed out Ritalin prescriptions like candy.actually needed to be on it. The pediatritian who perscribed it never spoke a word to me before writing the presciption, nor did she suggest behavioral therapy to my parents, as she should have.

@AliyaBabasaur: oops. but you get the point.

@BenderRodriguez: I wouldn't clasify caffeine or alcohol as medication in this context. No doctor writes a prescription for grape Mad Dog 20/20 or a vanilla Frapaccino.

Additionally, adults have a choice about what you may call self-medication. Children are dependent on the choices of adults. And while I would never accuse parents of intentionally putting their children at risk by medicating them unnecessarily, I believe it is a distinct possibility that they may be making the wrong decisions based on the information provided to them by the medical community and the pharmacutical industry.

I wonder how man ever made it to the moon without Ritalin.

@Robbiedrama:

Apparently you did not learn anything from the schools in this area either. Your usage of the English language (grammar) is atrocious. I'm from Salisbury, received an advanced degree, and still live in the area. I'm sure I can match or beat your "reading" skills any day of the week.

What, may I ask, does your comment have to do with the content of this article?

@Rectilinear Propagation: I was going to completely disregard your comment until you acknowledged your missed apostrophe.