Police say two emerging drugs have resulted in a death and two overdoses in the mid-north of South Australia.

The drugs go by the names 25I-NBOMe and 25B-NBOMe and authorities warn the effects are similar to LSD.

The drugs are consumed as tabs on paper and can lead to bizarre behaviour, paranoia and seizures.

Acting Detective Inspector Derryn Phillips said there had been two overdoses in the past 11 days and a man died from using one of the drug types back in March.

"What we can tell you about these drugs is that they are marketed in a manner similar to LSD in that they're marketed on blotter paper and they may even be marketed as LSD, given that it is believed that the effects are similar" she said.

Police think the drugs were manufactured in China.

Detective Inspector Phillips said the drugs were relatively new and much remained unknown about them.

"Users of these drugs are in fact setting themselves up as guinea pigs," she said.

"The toxicity of the drugs is not known."

Dr Robert Ali from Drug and Alcohol Services SA also warned of the dangers.

"People can be completely incapable of working out what's going on around them," he said.

"Lots of spasms and the risks of seizures and on the heart, they can actually cause the heart to beat very rapidly and then eventually [lead to a person] having a heart attack."