Some South Carolina municipalities have outlawed controversial substances that mimic the effects of illegal drugs and Richland County may soon follow suit.

Chesterfield County passed an emergency ordinance this week banning bath salts and synthetic marijuana, commonly known as “spice.”

The move prompted Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin to tweet that the City of Columbia and Richland County would also work to ban the substances.

Richland County Councilman Seth Rose said he had been working on a similar ordinance and hoped to propose it to the County Council within the next few weeks.

“It’s come to my attention that this is a serious problem in the Midlands so I’ve started looking into it,” said Rose, a former prosecutor. “Our legislature apparently has some bills that are sitting around that would ban this substance, but I feel like it’s an important enough issue that we need to act swiftly.”

Rose said law enforcement officials and constituents had expressed concerns about bath salts to him and that one person was particularly concerned that shops in Five Points were advertising the product.

Rose has already discussed the issue with Mayor Benjamin and the county attorney and said it was vital that the city of Columbia and Richland County cooperate in order to prevent confusion.

“Something shouldn’t be illegal in the county that is legal in the city,” Rose said. “It’s only fair that the punishment be consistent.”

Once Rose proposes the ordinance, it will take three readings in front of the County Council and require the support of at least five council members before it could become law. Rose said he hoped to have bath salts banned in Richland County by sometime in November.

“I have to have the support of my colleagues,” Rose said. “I can’t just do this unilaterally, but I don’t anticipate there being a problem given the facts.”

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said laws needed to adjust to the changing times.

"The substance does need to be banned," Lott said. "We have had cases of overdose from the bath salts and would welcome a ban in Richland County. As drug abuse and distribution changes, the laws must change to meet the challenges to our kid’s health."

Prevention specialist Cecily Watkins, who has spoken to Rose about this issue, agreed that the danger of the substance merited a ban.

"By name alone, it's very deceiving," Watkins said. "The side effects are severe panic attacks to the point where some people have committed suicide. Also, extreme violence, people become very combative."

Watkins said the drug could also cause hallucinations, elevated heart rate, vomiting and seizures and that 92 people had been sent to South Carolina hospitals this year because of the drug. Though there have been no local deaths, the drugs are not made for human consumption, and therefore the long-term effects are unknown.

"Some people who use them say that they don't feel they'll ever be the same mentally again," Watkins said.

Rose said he was still working to determine the scope of the law and whether it will include bans on synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs in addition to bath salts.

“Obviously bath salts is going to be included in there,” Rose said. “I’ll be working with LRADAC, law enforcement and the city and county staffs to draft something that’s designed to protect people. I don’t know how broad it will be at this juncture, but I’m still doing my homework.”

More than 20 states have outlawed bath salts. Although bath salts have chemical similarities to drugs like cocaine, they are manufactured specifically to comply DEA regulations. As such, laws banning the drug can be difficult to craft because there are so many different variations of the product.

Jimmy Mount, who handles public information for the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, said drugs like bath salts often become popular in metropolitan areas before spreading to rural communities, which may explain why South Carolina has not considered a statewide ban yet.

 “I think local public health officials have jumped on this issue as soon as it became a problem in South Carolina,” Mount said. “From a public health perspective, the best thing we can do is keep bath salts out of the hands of our citizens.”