State Rep. LaFave supports bill to reduce opioid pilfering and abuse

LANSING — Representative Beau LaFave has recently announced his support for new legislation aimed at reducing opioid pilfering in communities across the Upper Peninsula.

Pilfering is the act of sneaking a small number of pills hoping that it will go undetected.

The legislation would require drug companies to put a combination lock on the top of all prescription pill vials. According to LaFave, this cost is relatively inexpensive for the drug companies, and the lock will cost around one dollar per vial.

“Since the drug companies that caused this problem, it’s going to be the drug companies that help us fix it,” said LaFave in an interview with ABC 10. “What the studies have found is that our young kids that start getting to use drugs generally don’t start by buying heroin in the streets, they start in the medicine cabinet vicodin and other prescription opioids.”

LaFave said that if this legislation prevents even one person from abusing prescription drugs, then it’s worth the extra cost to the drug companies.

The legislation, HB 5857, is sponsored by Representative Joe Bellino (R–Monroe). The bill was just introduced, and LaFave hopes it will move quickly through the legislature.