SPIN magazine is being pulled from the newsracks of about 20 national retail store chains this month because of the magazine’s inclusion of free condoms in its November issue.

SPIN, a rock music-oriented magazine, is combining efforts with Carter Wallace Inc., which distributes Trojan-Enz condoms, to promote the use of condoms in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Marissa Scauzillo, SPIN promotions and publicity manager, said that despite good intentions, the promotion effort has received several negative reactions from several national retail chains.

Scauzillo said the magazine has been removed nationally from Safeway and Walden Books but other chains have only removed the magazine from certain districts. “7-11 in New York has not (removed the magazine), but the 7-11s in Chicago and California have,” she said.

Retail chains in the Chicago area which are boycotting the magazine include 7-11 convenience stores, Dominick’s food stores, Walgreen’s drug stores, Osco drug stores and Jewel food stores, Scauzillo said.

Mark Taylor, Chicago region stationary buyer for Jewel, said he had no comment about whether the advertisement caused the November issue of SPIN to be pulled off Jewel’s shelves.

Scauzillo said the condom promotion was necessary and that it will benefit the health of the public. She said the stores which are boycotting the magazine are hypocritical because they are refusing to distribute condoms, yet are selling the product at the same time.

DeKalb stores such as Apple Tree Records, 1022 West Lincoln Hwy., and Record Revolution, 817 West Lincoln Hwy., still are selling the issue.

Mark Gribble, Apple Tree Records manager, said he believed nothing was offensive about the advertisement and that he has not received any complaints from customers. “(The magazine) is just trying to make people more aware of AIDS,” he said.

Mark Farnham, assistant manager of Record Revolution, said he has not received any complaints about the advertisement, but the copies of the issue his store received only contained coupons for free condoms and did not contain any condoms themselves.

Scauzillo said that not every magazine was intended to contain actual condoms. She said individual subscribers only received coupons because federal mailing laws prohibit the magazine from sending actual condoms.

Steve Lux, NIU health educator, said he approved of the condom promotion. “The more that can be done to promote the use of condoms, the better,” he said.

Lux said he was surprised when he heard about the negative reactions to SPIN’s promotion. “Promoting condoms is not promoting promiscuity,” he said.

SPIN’s promotion is similar to NIU’s actions in making condoms more accessible to the public, Lux said. He said NIU already distributes free condoms to students and will install condom vending machines in about 30 campus restrooms in January.

The stores which have boycotted the November issue of SPIN still plan to sell the magazine’s December issue, Scauzillo said.