DES MOINES — Attempting to curtail the widespread production of methamphetamine in Iowa, lawmakers on Monday advanced a bill placing restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth.

Senate Study Bill 1025, modeled after a law passed in Oklahoma last year, would make some medicines containing pseudoephedrine a Schedule V controlled substance. This type of classification would allow the medicines’ sale only at pharmacies.

“This bill is a lot stricter than Oklahoma’s,” said Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield. “I am confident that public safety will be well served by this framework.”

If the bill is passed, Kreiman said he expects a dramatic decrease in the number of meth labs in Iowa. Government and law enforcement officials estimate that 10 percent to 20 percent of the methamphetamine used in Iowa is actually created in the state.

“For me, this is a two-year effort; last year I tried to pass Schedule V, and it didn’t even get debated,” said Marvin Van Haaften, director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy. “This year not only is it being debated, but there is overwhelming citizen support.”

Van Haaften said Iowans are tired of the damage, harm and fear caused by meth labs.

Lobbyists representing retailers in Iowa that sell products with psuedoephedrine are one of the few barriers the bill faces. Van Haaften said those retailers are concerned about losing sales, but he is confident those worries are unwarranted.

“As I talk to people in Oklahoma, even retailers, they all somewhat resisted the bill when it was debated in the legislature,” Van Haaften said.

“Once the bill passed, everyone said, ‘Wow, this works!'”

Under the bill, products containing more than 360 milligrams of psuedoephedrine will be available only at a pharmacy, and pharmacies will not be allowed to sell a customer more than 6,000 milligrams of psuedoephedrine in a 30-day period unless the purchaser has a prescription that requires a quantity exceeding that amount.

In Oklahoma, the limit is 9,000 milligrams.

Van Haaften said that limit was determined by finding the amount of cold medicine needed by a family of four if each person had a cold for one week during a single month.

Products containing between 240 milligrams and 360 milligrams of pseudoephedrine would still be available at other stores under the bill.

Purchasers would have to show identification and sign a log. Those products would not be available over the counter.

An amendment to the bill was approved Tuesday that would give retailers the option of logging purchases electronically.

Retailers at different locations could then check a customer’s recent purchases at other stores instantly to ensure the law is not being violated.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said he was concerned about privacy infringement under such a system and abstained from voting on the amendment.

Van Haaften said he shares some of Quirmbach’s concern, but he said the bill doesn’t affect prescription drugs, which are subject to privacy laws, unlike over-the-counter drugs.

“Law enforcement can walk in and see the log without violating any constitutional right,” Van Haaften said.

The bill was passed out of committee Monday and can now be debated on the Senate floor. A companion bill in the House is still in committee.