TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP) -- A federal report says 65 patients have visited Michigan hospital emergency rooms in the past six months for treatment after ingesting designer drugs sold as "bath salts."

The report was issued Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It focuses on an outbreak of so-called bath salt abuse that began last November and was located mainly in the Upper Peninsula.

In Traverse City, police are aware of the drug’s soaring popularity. “I can assure the people in the community that the drug enforcement administration and the government are looking at this drug and analyzing it and assessing it and seeing what the dangers are,” said Lt. Detective Kip Belcher.

One death was reported from an overdose of drugs that included a stimulant compound found in bath salts.

Marquette County issued an order in February banning sale of the substances locally. A bill pending in the Legislature would make it a felony to possess the primary substance in bath salt drugs.

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