According to a survey, based on interviews With 108 marijuana users aged between 13 and 31 and released by the Caritas Youth and Community Service in Aberdeen (Hong Kong) almost one in five young marijuana users said the Body Shop’s hemp promotion influenced someone they know to experiment with the drug. 44% said the products lowered their psychological resistance to experimenting, while 48% said they led people to believe that the drug had no adverse health effects. 18.7% said they knew who someone who started using marijuana as a direct result of the – promotion of commercial hemp products.
The Body Shop was not named in the report but according to the South China Morning Post on Sunday, Caritas social worker Fung Hing-kau identified the company after the report was released. Caritas Youth and Community Service supervisor Lam Wai-fan criticized the company for using the drug to promote its products.
Source: HNN Press Release Feb 1999