JACKSON (AP) — The Mississippi House on Thursday approved a bill to require a doctor’s prescription to buy cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the illegal drug methamphetamine.

    Supporters say the measure will curtail meth production by limiting accessibility to pseudoephedrine. Opponents have said the change would be burdensome. They also contend that meth makers would likely cross state lines to buy the cold medicine.

    The measure was passed 105-15 after lengthy debate that included some lawmakers discussing how the escalating meth problem had impacted their families.

    Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, said his younger brother and nephew were addicted to the drug. Holland said his mother described his brother’s addiction as ‘‘a living death.’’

    ‘‘I can’t figure out why in God’s name anybody would be opposing this,’’ Holland said.

    There were several attempts to change the bill.

    Rep. Mark Formby, R-Picayune, unsuccessfully tried to change the bill to add a minimum 10-year sentence for a first-offense meth conviction and a 20-year sentence on a second offense.

    And Rep. Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, tried to insert a two-year repealer in the bill so lawmakers could revisit the measure after determining if it had been effective. That proposal also failed.

    The bill now moves to the Senate, where similar legislation also is pending.

    Most legislators say Mississippi’s meth problem has become an epidemic, but Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, said he doesn’t believe the proposal would reduce the state’s drug activity.

    ‘‘We’re assuming that Mississippi has a gate or fence around it,’’ Clark said. ‘‘They’re going to drive to Memphis, Little Rock and everywhere in between to get (pseudoephedrine). If we can’t stop cocaine from coming from Columbia, how are we going to stop Sudafed from coming from Tennessee?’’

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    The bill is House Bill 512.