Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and top law enforcement officials Wednesday said Kansas needed a law similar to one in Oklahoma that has been credited with cutting in half methamphetamine production in the Sooner State.

“We can make it work here,” Sebelius said.

Officials said Oklahoma had reported a 50 percent reduction in meth lab seizures since April, when the state enacted a law establishing hurdles to get over-the-counter, tablet-form pseudoephedrine products. Pseudoephedrine, which is in Sudafed and many similar decongestants, can be used in the production of meth.

Sebelius has asked a Kansas meth task force to evaluate the Oklahoma law. “I think it’s a win-win situation at basically no cost, and it has worked dramatically,” she said.

The Oklahoma law has worked so well it has chased meth makers into Kansas to purchase the “precursor” drugs. Some border counties in Kansas have seen an increase in meth lab busts.

“Law enforcement agencies along the border are reporting a flood of Oklahomans coming over to buy the precursors,” said Larry Welch, director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Welch and Col. Bill Seck, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol, said a methamphetamine task force would make recommendations to lawmakers when the 2005 legislative session starts Jan. 10.

Under the Oklahoma law:

l The tablet forms of pseudoephedrine are kept behind the counter in pharmacies.

l Customers are limited in the amount they can buy each month.

l Customers must show identification and sign for the drug.

Gel and liquid forms of pseudoephedrine are not used to make meth and are not subject to restrictions.

Kansas consistently ranks among the top states in the number of meth labs seized.

So far this year, there have been 475 meth labs seized, compared with 302 in all of 2003, according to KBI statistics. Meth lab busts have increased substantially in several Kansas counties along the Oklahoma and Missouri borders.

In Douglas County, three meth labs have been seized so far this year, compared with eight last year, according to KBI figures.

Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp said meth production was an ongoing problem. Using over-the-counter allergy medications and other ingredients, the drug can be cooked up quickly.

“It’s really getting hard to catch them in the process,” he said.

Trapp said that he wasn’t familiar with the Oklahoma law, but that it sounded like an idea worth investigating.

“It’s a problem that has to be addressed,” he said.

Seck and Welch are sending representatives from their agencies to a regional methamphetamine legislative conference Friday in St. Louis to evaluate the Oklahoma program.

“Cutting the meth labs in half would save millions of taxpayer dollars, some of which could be used to help treatment, education and enforcement efforts,” Seck said.

“This task force will work to identify communities in need of additional resources to fight meth and illegal drugs,” he added.

Seck and Welch also are planning a statewide summit this spring on the effects of methamphetamine use, with regional hearings planned later.