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TUCSON - A local legislator and doctor is working to push through a ban on the designer drug "bath salts." They are a powder substance that is currently legal in Arizona made to give the same effect as drugs like cocaine.

Legislator Matt Heinz was successful in pushing through an emergency ban on synthetic marijuana earlier this year, but now his focus is on the synthetic amphetamine "bath salts" that he says is extremely dangerous.

Heinz says these drugs are sold in convenience stores and smoke shops, labeled as "not for human consumption." But they have a very similar chemical design to drugs like meth-amphetamines and cocaine. He says often times they are snorted or smoked, and the effects are unpredictable.

He says he has admitted patients with extreme psychosis and hallucinations. So Heinz took this to the legislature this year, and HB 2510 made it through the Senate, but did not make it through the House. But his fight is not over yet.

"We are duty-bound to protect the public and to provide those tools to law enforcement to keep these dangerous chemicals off of the shelves of whatever convenience store, smoke shop, wherever they are," Heinz said.

He says he will work to put this bill through again, and hopes to see it banned as early as February.