Fred Meyer pharmacies to provide free locking bags for those with opioid prescriptions

Aiming to curb opioid misuse, Fred Meyer pharmacies will now provide free locking bags to any pharmacy customer with an opioid prescription.

The move is part of a statewide initiative of the Washington state Health Care Authority to encourage safe storage of opioid medication.

Since 2020, about a dozen independent pharmacies across the state have adopted the “Lock Up Your Meds” program. Fred Meyer is the first major pharmacy chain to participate and offer a free medication locking bag to patients with opioid prescriptions.

Fred Meyer’s 60 pharmacies in the state include three in the Spokane region.

“As part of our commitment to helping people live healthier lives, we’re proud to participate in this program and provide free locking bags to patients with opioid prescriptions – empowering safer communities through compassionate care and responsible pharmacy practice,” Fred Meyer division health leader Kayla Hensley said in a statement.

Since introducing the program to pharmacies in May, Fred Meyer has distributed 713 locking bags and obtained 485 pledges to use them. The program has distributed 1,827 locking bags through independent pharmacies since 2020.

When opioid medication is not stored properly, it can more easily be stolen by other individuals living in the same household, said HCA’s behavioral health spokesperson Melissa Thoemke.

“Over 50% of people who overdose from opioids get the medication from a family member,” she said. “So by encouraging people to lock up their medications, it’s one extra step that helps people to not take a medication that’s not theirs, and then also not overdose by taking a medication that’s not theirs.”

A goal of the program is not only to provide locking bags, but to make the practice of safely storing opioid medication more widely accepted .

“We have pledge cards that go on the pharmacy wall to then help create this community norm,” said Lock Up Your Meds program manager Esther Brown. “As people are walking into the pharmacy, they see the pledge cards up on the wall, and are prompted and think it is normal behavior to lock up medication within the home.”