RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The start of a new year is bringing some new laws to North Carolina.

Starting Sunday, pharmacies will be required to enter customers into a national database when they want to buy cold medicine that contains pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The database will block the sale if the person has gone on a buying spree for the drug.

In another change, more criminals convicted of misdemeanors will be housed in county jails rather than in state prisons. It's part of a new policy approved by the Legislature with the goal of reducing correctional costs and recidivism.

The state tax collector also will have fewer powers to force corporations to redo their tax returns if they're suspected of dodging taxes.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)