American pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS are refusing to stock the upcoming edition of Rolling Stone magazine because it features Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the front cover.

The magazine has been accused of glamourising the 19-year-old Boston bombing suspect by using an image of him that draws parallels to music legends Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison.  

The image has a vintage hue and shows Tsarnaev staring into the camera with his brown locks falling loosely about his face.

Music fans reacted angrily on Rolling Stone's Facebook page. 

Shawn Anthony, whose comment was liked over 1,500 times, wrote: "I think it's wrong to make celebrities out of these people.  Why give the guy the cover of Rolling Stone?  TIME gave Charles Manson the cover and all the magazines carried pictures of the Columbine shooters on the covers, too.  Don't make martyrs out of these people." 

Tim Snell commented: "Been a subscriber since 1982 - cancelling tonight.  I am beyond words...." 

Mia Lewis wrote: "Your cover story was a poor choice and in spite of the dozens of times you, Rolling Stone, have reported about the human spirit, of resilience in the time of adversity, you have contradicted yourself beyond measure and I cannot imagine any future stories of the sort can be deemed credible. You will still sell magazines, of that we're all certain, but never to me, never again."

In addition to Walgreens and CVS, other chainstores pulling the plug on the August edition are Tedeschi Food Shops, Shaw's Supermarkets and Roche Brothers supermarkets. 

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges related to the bombing which killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy. 

His face is splashed across the front cover of the August edition of Rolling Stone for an article in the magazine titled "The Bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam, and became a monster." 

Rolling Stone issued a statement on Wednesday standing by its decision to use the picture on its front cover: "The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens."