ST. LOUIS — Missouri, which in 2008 passed a law limiting purchases of a decongestant that doubles as methamphetamine's main ingredient, will soon have a way to better enforce it.

Gov. Jay Nixon said a computer database will allow people who legitimately need cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine to buy it, but block sales to those building an illicit inventory.

The law requires pharmacies to report the sales electronically, but the mandate was never funded. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade association representing pharmaceutical companies, volunteered last year to pay the cost, about $1 million.

Nixon has accepted the offer, saying it will allow pharmacists and police to determine at the counter whether a buyer has surpassed limits of three grams a day or nine grams a month. Nine grams is about three boxes of medicine with the highest dose.

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