Friday marks the date on which most of the legislation approved this past session by the General Assembly takes effect.

Lawmakers opted to advance a slightly less restrictive bill than what they had a day before.

If you’re a patient-of-record at your pharmacy, Rep. Ben Smaltz’s bill allows you to continue buying pseudoephedrine, a standard cold medicine, as usual. If you’re not, you can buy a small amount of the drug before needing a prescription.

House and Senate lawmakers overwhelming approved bills Wednesday that give pharmacists a bigger role in helping stem the state’s meth cooking crisis.

Indiana’s methamphetamine problem isn’t going away – though it’s not in the headlines as much as the heroin and opioid epidemic. Indiana legislators are considering a bill that would give pharmacists the power to decide whether someone was eligible to buy its essential ingredient -- pseudoephedrine -- over the counter.

As the 2016 legislative session begins, lawmakers are taking aim at the problem. Two bills will be proposed in hopes of putting an end to meth labs in the state -- one empowers pharmacists to turn away suspicious customers, the other makes drugs containing pseudoephedrine prescription-only.

The 2016 legislative session has yet to start, but already pharmaceutical industry groups are clashing with law enforcement organizations over a bill that would require a prescription for a common a cold medicine also used to make methamphetamine.

Legislation to make the key meth ingredient pseudoephedrine available only by prescription is endorsed by both the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Association and House Speaker Brian Bosma. But, Logansport Sen. Randy Head says that’s a drastic step that unfairly punishes people who just want access to cold medicine.

Indiana has led the nation in meth production for three consecutive years; pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient.