Zhejiang's new regulation to crack down on drug making

The provincial government of east China's Zhejiang has issued a regulation that requires customers buying cold medicine to register their identities.

The new rule is an attempt to crack down on the illegal production of drugs.

Under the regulation, from Sept. 10 buyers will be required to give their real names and addresses to pharmacies while buying cold medicine containing ephedrine, said a statement issued by the provincial public security bureau on Wednesday.

A maximum of five of the smallest units of ephedrine-contained cold medicine will be allowed to be purchased by each buyer, according to the regulation.

Ephedrine is commonly used in medicines to ease symptoms of cold, such as cough, running nose and nasal congestion, but it can also be extracted for producing methamphetamine hydrochloride, or "ice."

As producing and sales of ephedrine is under the government's strict control, medicine containing ephedrine ingredients has become an alternative for criminals to manufacture drugs.

In 2010, police in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, cracked down on a case in which suspects bought over 1.3 million units of nose drops and other medicine containing ephedrine, transporting them to the Southeast Asia to make drugs.