Topeka ? Kansans wanting to buy cold, flu or allergy medicines now must ask a pharmacist for them because of a new law aimed at making it harder for methamphetamine makers to ply their trade.

From cities to rural areas, the law, which took effect Wednesday, appeared to cause few problems, as pharmacists and customers alike adapted to the change.

At Walgreens in downtown Topeka, customers wanting medication with pseudoephedrine found cards with the name of the product and its price on the shelf where the medication used to be. They took the cards to the pharmacy to purchase the product.

Pharmacist Tim Senger said his store started the practice a week ago to get customers and the staff used to the change.

“The people who are using it for what they are supposed to be using it for don’t have a problem,” Senger said. “People understand.”

He said the only complaint has been from a few people who didn’t have their driver’s license.

Along with keeping the medication behind the counter, the law also requires customers to sign a log book and show identification. It also limits sales to three packages per week per customer.

Modeled after an Oklahoma law, the idea is to make it harder for meth makers to purchase large amounts of medications that provide a principal ingredient for the illegal drug.

Walgreen Co., which operates 45 stores in Kansas, began limiting customers to purchasing two packages of such medicines in 2002, spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said.

Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, who pushed for the law, said he’s heard few complaints about the restrictions.

“The sense seems to be that we wish this weren’t necessary but we understand that it is,” said Schmidt, R-Independence.