Pharmacist Barry Lake points Thursday to a package of Sudafed at the pharmacy in the Target store at 4001 S. Maryland Parkway. Products containing pseudoephedrine, used to manufacture methamphetamine, have been sold behind the counter for some time now, but Lake says he still gets queries as to why they are there. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

A law requiring behind-the-counter sales of medications containing ingredients commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine has been in effect for several months, but Barry Lake, a pharmacist at a Las Vegas Target outlet, says some customers still aren't aware of the change.

He said some customers understand why their most-needed cold and flu medications are tucked away behind a store's pharmacy counter or locked in a case and why they must show identification to make purchases.

"I think for some people it will be bothersome, but this is important,'' Lake said about a federal requirement that medications such as Advil Cold and Sinus, Claritin D and Sudafed be sold behind the counter to preclude sales to people who might use the products illicitly.

In an effort to settle confusion about the law in Nevada with respect to the sales of pseudoephedrine-containing medications, the state's Pharmacy Board on Thursday changed its regulations to meet that of the federal law.

Pseudoephedrine is a sought-after chemical precursor in the manufacture of methamphetamine, an addictive drug that has become somewhat of an epidemic in the United States.

"This (federal law) is a way we can control the amount of these products being sold to people and keep it out of the hands of the bad people using it to make meth and speed,'' said Lake, who works at a Target store on Maryland Parkway near Flamingo Road.

Louis Ling, attorney for the Nevada State Pharmacy Board, said his office has received numerous questions about the federal law as it relates to Nevada law. During the Pharmacy Board's regularly scheduled meeting at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Ling told the Board its action should clear up the confusion.

"We decided to chuck it all and use the federal law,'' he said during the meeting.

That law contains the behind-the counter requirements and places limits on the quantity of the medications that could be purchased daily and monthly. In terms of quantities, Nevada law was nearly identical to federal law.

Pseudoephedrine is a drug found in both prescription and over-the-counter products used to relieve nasal or sinus congestion caused by the common colds, sinusitis, hay fever, and other respiratory allergies.

Methamphetamine is the most frequently used drug in Nevada, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Those who are addicted to it suffer from severe nervousness, insomnia, depression and brain damage.

In March, President Bush signed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 into the Patriot Act in an effort to combat its abuse in the United States.

In addition to requiring that products containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenlypropanolamine be sold behind the counter, federal law limits the amount customers can buy per month and also requires that they provide photo identification before the purchase.

Pharmacies are required to track the purchasing of those products by logging into a book or computer system customer information. That information is to be kept in the system for up to two years.

In 2001, the Nevada State Pharmacy Board passed regulations requiring pharmacies to limit the amount of drugs containing pseudoephedrine, but it did not say the drugs had to be sold behind the counter.