JEFFERSON CITY • No more lap dances. No nudity. And the doors close at midnight.

Those are among the strict new regulations for strip clubs and other adult businesses today as a host of new Missouri laws take effect.

The law changing regulations on the adult entertainment industry is one of many new measures that the Missouri Legislature passed this year, some with crime and safety in mind.

Among them:

• K2, a substance sold to teenagers at convenience stores that has been compared with marijuana and meth, is no longer legal. Critics said the formerly unregulated drug — which is smoked — was quickly becoming an epidemic, even though it didn't contain any chemicals that had previously been declared illegal. Missouri is among several states, including Kansas, that banned the substance this year.

• A drunken-driving law adds penalties and in some cases offers drivers a chance to deal with the root of their problem, alcoholism, in drug court. The law was spurred by a series of stories in the Post-Dispatch that showed DWI enforcement problems in the St. Louis metro area because of different standards and a failure to communicate among municipalities and city and county courts. Among the changes to DWI laws are requirements to move more severe cases to circuit court and for municipalities to keep better records.

• New requirements are added to the state's 24-hour informed consent waiting period for abortions. The new law requires abortion centers to give information to patients, including a pamphlet which says that life begins at conception. Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, allowed that bill to become a law without signing it.

• New ethics rules for lawmakers seek to limit campaign "money laundering" by making it illegal for most political action committees to donate to other political action committees. The law makes it a crime to obstruct a Missouri Ethics Commission investigation and requires donations of more than $500 made during the legislative session to be reported within 48 hours.

The abortion, ethics and strip club bills all were controversial during the 2010 legislative session and were approved in the session's final hours. And the adult entertainment bill had to survive a legal challenge to become law today.

Friday morning, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled against a coalition of adult-business owners seeking to block the law from taking effect. The business owners allege the law is unconstitutional, and they plan to continue their legal challenge.

But first they will have to comply with the law. That means that as of today, the businesses — including strip clubs and adult bookstores — have to close at midnight. The law forbids minors from entering the facilities, bans alcohol and outlaws total nudity. In addition, dancers have to be six feet away from patrons, and any film-viewing booths cannot be behind closed doors. Finally, the businesses can't be within 1,000 feet of churches or schools.

"This is going to place a great deal of hardship on our business that provides a living to almost 90 people, as well as suppliers, distributors, and agencies that receive payments and taxes from us. However, we stand ready to comply with the law," said Steve Leonard, manager of marketing and communications for Big Louie's, a strip club just outside Fort Leonard Wood.

Nixon spent Friday bringing attention to a couple of lower-profile laws that he said protect senior citizens and children.

One of the bills allows senior citizens who have bought certain long-term health care policies to get refunds if they cancel them.

"A refund for what you don't use sounds like a basic concept, but until now, this was not required under the law," Nixon said. "This change gives seniors the flexibility to switch insurance policies as their needs change — and not lose the payments they've made for future coverage."

Another law allows potential victims of child abuse to receive forensic examinations without having to travel far from home. The law allows 85 local child abuse centers throughout the state to collaborate with experts at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and St. Louis Children's Hospital for the purpose of examining victims of abuse.