Attempts to control the sale of the drug date back to 1986, when federal officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) first drafted legislation, later proposed by Senator Bob Dole, that would have placed a number of chemicals used in the manufacture of illicit drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. The bill would have required each transaction involving pseudoephedrine to be reported to the government, and federal approval of all imports and exports. Fearing this would limit legitimate use of the drug, lobbyists from over the counter drug manufacturing associations sought to stop this legislation from moving forward, and were successful in exempting from the regulations all chemicals that had been turned into a legal final product, such as Sudafed.Prior to the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, sales of the drug became increasingly regulated, as DEA regulators and pharmaceutical companies continued to fight for their respective positions. The DEA continued to make greater progress in their attempts to control pseudoephedrine as methamphetamine production skyrocketed, becoming a serious problem in the western United States. When purity dropped, so did the number of people in rehab and people admitted to emergency rooms with methamphetamine in their systems. This reduction in purity was usually short lived, however, as methamphetamine producers eventually found a way around the new regulations.Congress passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 ("CMEA") as an amendment to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act. Signed into law by president George W. Bush on March 6, 2006, the act amended 21 U.S.C.
)In regards to the identification that may be used by an individual buying pseudoephedrine products the following constitute acceptable forms of identification:

US passport
Alien registration or permanent resident card
Unexpired foreign passport with temporary I-551 stamp
Unexpired Employment Authorization Document
Drivers License or Government issued identification card (including Canadian drivers license)
School ID with picture
Voters Registration card
US Military Card
Native American tribal documentsThe requirements were revised in the Methamphetamine Production Prevention Act of 2008 to require that a regulated seller of scheduled listed chemical products may not sell such a product unless the purchaser:
Presents a government issued photographic identification; and
Signs the written logbook with their name, address, and time and date of the sale

State
Most states also have laws regulating pseudoephedrine.The states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii (as of May 1, 2009) Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana (as of August 15, 2009), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin have laws requiring pharmacies to sell pseudoephedrine "behind the counter". Though the drug can be purchased without a prescription, states can limit the number of units sold and can collect personal information from purchasers. The states of Oregon and Mississippi previously required a prescription for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine.