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Sac State Student Invents Pill Bottle Locking Cap

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Wearing a tie to class is your first clue Joseph Simpson is no typical Sacramento State student. He walks through campus and knows he's actually sprinting toward a promising business career.

This young entrepreneur has found lightning in a bottle by inventing "The Locking Cap," a pill bottle safety device that comes with a four-digit combination code.

"It is basically a combination locking cap for medicines," said Simpson. You take the little reset pin, the longer end of the reset pin, insert it into the reset hole, hold it in, mix it up."

The locking cap with the typical pill bottle is child proof. It needs to be push down, twisted and then it's open. With "The Locking Cap" users need to know the combination, if you don't know it, you can't get in.

It's designed to prevent prescription drug abuse which kills 40 people a day in this country, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Simpson found out the hard way of what an epidemic it really is after his younger brother became addicted to pain pills.

His family got him in rehab and Simpson got moving on his idea, but it wasn't easy.

"That's the hardest part is to get in the door," said Simpson.

At 23 years of age, with no experience, he pitched "the locking cap" to big name companies.

"I learned what a hundred hour work week was," joked Simpson.

Those hours paid off. The patent-pending locking cap is now available at Save-Mart in South Sacramento and others throughout California.

The product is also at Ralph's, Lucky and will soon land at Walmart and Costco.

Simpson has proven he can get in the door of big name drug companies and stores with an idea that came from personal pain, which he hopes will be a prescription for success.

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