BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland's health secretary is calling for emergency regulations to add synthetic drugs known as "bath salts" to the state's controlled dangerous substances list.

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Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, on Thursday declared the drugs "dangerous." If they are added to the Schedule 1 Controlled Dangerous Substances list, it would make it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess bath salts.

Many states have already banned bath salts, which are often sold online and mimic the effects of cocaine or methamphetamines. They can be inhaled, smoked, injected or ingested.

The ban could go into effect as early as Sept. 1.