PORTLAND (AP) - New permanent pharmacy regulations that took effect this weekend will require Oregonians to show identification when they buy certain kinds of cold medicine.

Consumers' names and driver's license numbers will then be placed on a list that the pharmacy will keep for at least two years.

The permanent new rules make it more inconvenient to buy cold medicines, such as Sudafed, that contain pseudoephedrine, which can easily be turned into the illegal drug methamphetamine.

The rules, approved in April by the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, are intended to stem the spread of meth use.

"The information we got from a presentation by police," said Gary Miner, the pharmacy board's compliance director, "was that they (meth cooks) don't want to give out that information, and they tend to be paranoid."

The regulations affect only medications in solid form, not liquids or liquid-filled gel caps, which are far more difficult to process into the illegal drug.

In October, under the direction of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the pharmacy board passed a temporary rule that required the cold pills to be put behind pharmacy counters and for buyers to present photo identification.

The rules restrict purchasers to nine grams of active pseudoephedrine a month - about the amount in three 24-pill boxes of Sudafed.

The sales log includes the date of purchase, the name of the buyer, the type of photo identification submitted, the identification number or date of birth, the pharmacist's initials and the number of milligrams of active pseudoephedrine purchased.

The regulations require pharmacies to "exercise reasonable care" to make sure customers don't go over the monthly limit, though nothing prevents a customer from going to several stores.

The rules don't provide for a statewide database of pseudoephedrine buyers. Each pharmacy will keep its records separately, although stores within pharmacy chains can share information.

Tom Holt, executive director of the Oregon State Pharmacy Association, said his members support the regulation.

Holt said he thinks market forces will quickly drive the easily converted cold pills out of pharmacies as consumers become more reluctant to go through the identity checking.