it's like comparing it to alcohol," said uop student john kim. extra security is to ward off would-be thieves, according to a walmart spokesperson."it's kind of ridiculous that they have to lock it up," said uop student sang vo. in modesto and stockton -- laundry pods that used to be easily accessible are no more.walmart spokesperson charles crowson gave fox40 this statement:no retailer is immune to the challenge of crime and walmart is no exception. the decision about which items are subject to additional in-store security is made on data gathered at the store level and often at the discretion of the store manager.while walmart would not say if the tide pod challenge affected the decision, uop students fox40 spoke to believe the viral trend may have had an impact."i mean, i mostly thought it was just a joke, so it'd be like tide pods in a pan and then someone would say 'dinnertime,'" isabel mangaong said. the challenge dares people to bite into the soap on camera.the nation's poison control center reports in this month alone, more than 130 teena