NEW LAWS - ID REQUIRED FOR MEDS WITH PSEUDOEPHEDRINE

Measure outlawing cyber hunting also takes effect today

Customers are now required to show photo identification to a
pharmacist to buy medicine containing pseudoephedrine -- a key
ingredient used to make methamphetamine -- under a new state law that
takes effect today.

The measure is among more than 20 new laws taking effect today. It
and a companion measure increasing criminal penalties for trafficking
in methamphetamine are designed to combat the manufacture and
distribution of the drug.

Gov. Bill Richardson, who signed the legislation into law this year,
said Friday that the measures will give law-enforcement officers
better tools to fight meth dealers. "Along with the nearly $800,000
we are spending on meth treatment this year, these laws show that New
Mexico is committed to throwing the book at those who manufacture and
deal meth," Richardson said in a news release.

Rep. John Heaton, D-Carlsbad, sponsored the pseudoephedrine measure,
which says only licensed pharmacists, interns or technicians can sell
a product containing pseudoephedrine, which is a common ingredient in
cold medications. The new law requires customers to show their
driver's license or another form of photo identification to buy a
product containing pseudoephedrine. Consumers also must sign a log
and are barred from buying more than 9 grams of a product containing
pseudoephedrine within 30 days.

Rep. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, sponsored the meth-trafficking
measure, which contains tougher penalties that make meth trafficking
a second-degree felony for a first offense and a first-degree felony
for subsequent violations.

Other new laws taking effect today include:

- -- The Family Opportunity Accounts Act, which overhauls a program
offering savings accounts to low-income New Mexicans. A separate
state budget measure includes $1.5 million in matching funds for the accounts.

- -- A measure outlawing "cyber hunting," which lets Internet users
controlling a camera shoot at animals in another location with a real
gun. Several states, including Texas, banned the practice -- called
"computerassisted remote hunting" in New Mexico's law -- after a
Texas ranch gave Internet users the chance to shoot game.

- -- A law transferring the New Mexico Film Museum from the Tourism
Department to the Department of Cultural Affairs.