Topeka ? Pam Caplinger found medicine to combat a daughter’s cold on a shelf in a Dillon grocery store. If some officials succeed in an effort to foil methamphetamine makers, she and other consumers might have to see a pharmacist.

A bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee would restrict consumers’ access to cold, allergy and flu medications that also contain a key ingredient for meth. The measure is patterned after a 2004 Oklahoma law credited with reducing meth lab seizures in that state by 80 percent.

In Kansas, some pharmacy operators are concerned such a measure would burden pharmacists and consumers. But Caplinger thinks it’s a good idea, though she finds it sad that the state must resort to such restrictions because meth is a big problem.

“I’d rather go talk to the pharmacist than see the number of meth labs increase,” said Caplinger, a restaurant owner from Auburn.

The Senate committee had a hearing Wednesday, during which law enforcement officials advocated the measure’s passage. The panel plans to vote Monday.

The bill would apply to medicine tablets containing ephedrine or psuedoephedrine — but not to gel caps or liquids, such as the medication Caplinger bought. Only pharmacists could dispense such medicines, though prescriptions would not be required.

Also, consumers would have to show identification and sign a log to obtain their medicine, and it would be illegal to purchase more than 9 grams worth — typically enough for 90 days — within a 30-day period.

With 23 sponsors, the measure theoretically has enough support to pass the 40-member Senate.

But the Kansas Bureau of Investigation already offered to eliminate the limit on the quantity a consumer can buy to ease some pharmacists’ concerns.

Still, other issues remain.

Aaron Kropf, an Albertson’s pharmacist in Shawnee, said tablets are the most popular form of medicine, and dozens of products could be kept behind some pharmacies’ counters.

Bob Randall, co-owner of Jim’s Pharmacy in Salina, said keeping such medicines behind the counter — which his business already does — decreases meth making. But he worries that requiring businesses to keep a log of purchases would be time-consuming.

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said.

And Walgreen Co., which operates 45 drug stores in Kansas, worries that some rural communities don’t have pharmacies, meaning residents wouldn’t have access to tablets if the bill passed, spokeswoman Carol Hively said. She said Walgreen stores have voluntarily limited per-person sales of such medicines since 2002.

Some consumers may also have qualms about the bill. Bob Tebo, a Rossville truck driver, said the measure seemed an invasion of consumers’ privacy.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said. “We have enough laws now.”

But law enforcement officials contend that meth making, trafficking and use is such a big problem that the bill is warranted. They also said Oklahoma’s law could be encouraging meth makers to establish their labs in Kansas.

According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, law enforcement officers reported seizing only four labs in 1994. The figure peaked at 846 for 2001, but last year, the KBI estimates about 550 lab were reported seized.

“That’s way, way too many,” KBI director Larry Welch said during the committee’s hearing. “We still have a terrible problem.”

In other action:

— Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston said legislators should hold off on fixing the state’s death penalty law, but a key senator called her concerns “baloney.”

— Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz promoted a $3.2 million plan to add space for 100 inmates at the state prison in Ellsworth.

— The nonprofit Kansas Health Institute and the Legislative Research Department sponsored a four-hour seminar on health care issues for legislators.