Now that the new law restricting pseudoephedrine sales has gone into effect, Iowa’s meth cooks will find themselves short of one of their key ingredients.

Last year, Iowa law enforcement responded to methamphetamine labs over 1,400 times. Iowa public safety officials say if the new law has its intended effect on drug manufacturers, the number of meth labs, and the safety risks they pose, could drop dramatically.

Governor Tom Vilsack signed Senate File 169 into law, which controls access to a chemical used in meth production. Pseudoephedrine is now regulated and classified as the lowest category of a controlled substance under the law. It is contained in several cold medications.

Controversy surrounding the restrictions for pseudoephedrine, contained in the legislation, occurred among public safety advocates, who said the move was necessary in order to reduce the production of methamphetamine, and retailers, who said the law would harm people needing relief from their symptoms.

Under the new law, the controlled substance can no longer be bought over the counter or sold to anyone under 18 or without identification. There are also restrictions on the amount which can be purchased from any single retailer.

As of May 21, when most of the provisions of the new law came into effect, people purchasing more than 7,500 milligrams of pseudoephedrine in a single month or caught stealing up to $500 worth of pseudoephedrine, will be guilty of a serious misdemeanor.

Retailers in Ames are prepared for the law’s enforcement. Retailers failing to comply with the law face penalties ranging from a $300 to $3,000 fines depending on the number of violations.

Dave Stark, pharmacy manager for west Ames Hy-Vee, said he expects the new law to decrease sales of medicine containing pseudoephedrine because it is now more difficult and time consuming to purchase.

He said medicine manufacturers are beginning to re-formulate their products with an alternative decongestant called phenylephrine, which cannot be used to make meth. Medications containing this ingredient are rare, Stark said.

“Right now, there’s only one product on the market called Sudafed P.E., and it is one and a half times more expensive then Sudafed,” he said. “As more products are out there, it should return, price-wise, back down to normal.”

Stark said the new law should not cause increased thefts of drugs containing pseudoephedrine because now all medications with the ingredient are behind the counter.

Wal-Mart pharmacy spokeswoman Jacquie Young said Wal-Mart has had a voluntary policy since 1997 to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine.

“It’s nothing new to us and a lot of places don’t even know we have a policy,” Young said.

Young said Wal-Mart was also in negotiations with its suppliers to carry more cold relief products that do not carry pseudoephedrine.

Ken Carter, director of Iowa’s Division of Narcotics Enforcement, said the new law targeted pseudoephedrine because it was an essential ingredient for every process used to make methamphetamine.

“Pseudoephedrine is the common denominator that every meth lab needs,” he said. “Meth cooks get lithium from batteries, but we didn’t want to regulate that. We wanted to be reasonable.”

He said it was important for the law to target the least expensive solution for action.

“Meth cooks buy or steal pseudoephedrine from medicines because it’s cost effective for them,” Carter said.