ST. PAUL (AP) &045; The Minnesota House overwhelmingly passed a ban on some popular over-the-counter cold tablets Thursday as part of a package to crack down on methamphetamine, a powerful illegal drug that’s swept through the state.

The ban, which would go into effect by mid-2006, would pull all cold and allergy pills that contain pseudoephedrine, a crucial meth ingredient, from under consumers’ noses. The only way to get the tablets would be to visit a doctor and get a written prescription. Liquid and gel-cap versions of the medications would still be sold without restrictions &045; for now.

Lawmakers are targeting tablets because they yield the pseudoephedrine used in homegrown meth labs. So far, lab busts in Minnesota haven’t shown that meth cooks are using liquid or gel-cap formulations of the cold medicines.

The 127-4 vote for the meth package, which would also ratchet up sentences for making meth, reflected the reach of the highly addictive narcotic, which has caused crimes or meth lab accidents in every corner of the state. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Jeff Johnson of Plymouth, said no other state legislature has gone as far as banning the cold remedies outright.

&uot;This is by far the most significant meth bill that’s ever passed out of any legislative body in the country,&uot; Johnson said after the vote, while also acknowledging that the final bill may look different.

The Senate last month unanimously voted to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine tablets &045; brands including Sudafed and Actifed &045; to pharmacies. That bill would also cap purchases at about eight packages a month and make customers show ID and sign a log. Johnson backed the same proposal going into Thursday’s floor debate.

But Rep. Mike Charron, R-Woodbury, proposed banning the pills. He said liquids and gel-caps would still be available, and so would a Sudafed version that doesn’t contain pseudoephedrine.