Program puts combination lock on prescription pill bottles

Posted on August 31, 2015

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Here’s something in which Illinois can claim a first: the first state providing for a combination lock on a prescription pill bottle.

A pilot program under a newly-signed law will, State Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Norridge) hopes, help deter those who would experiment with what’s in their parents’ or grandparents’ medicine cabinet.

“This measure is designed to keep kids away from going down that path,” said Martwick, a co-sponsor of the bill, “because, once addicted to opiates, heroin is the next step.”

Martwick pointed out many painkillers are merely “prescription-strength heroin.”

The one-year pilot program, beginning in 2016, will use a four-digit lock similar to what is probably on your briefcase. Unless the combination is correct, the cap spins and spins without opening.

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