A northern Illinois lawmaker wants to require locking caps on bottles for prescription pain pills. The caps would have a combination lock that only the person prescribed the medication would know.
State Representative Rob Martwick says it would prevent people addicted to opioids from having access to the drugs.
"We feel very good about this bill. We feel that this is a first step towards starting to rein in this problem we have with the proliferation of these very dangerous — although necessary — drugs."
Nick Gore was 20 years old when he started taking pain pills recreationally. His substance abuse turned into a dependency that lasted seven years and eventually led to heroin use and jail time.
Gore says the combination locks could have stopped his access to the drugs.
"I can honestly say that I stole prescription pills out of many people's homes, and if I would have seen this locking pill device in their homes, I'm not sure that my addiction would have gone as great of lengths that it did."
The caps cost four dollars. The proposals' sponsors say they hope that cost is not passed down to customers. So far, they aren't sure how it will be funded.
Illinois is the first state to introduce this legislation, although other states are also considering the locks.
