Dr. Phil on the use of Salvia divinorum

November 12, 2008

November 11 Phil McGraw, better known as “Dr. Phil”, dedicated a program to the usage of Salvia divinorum, titled “Risky Teen Behavior.” As was apparent from the announcement, Dr. Phil and his research team know very little about Salvia.

For example, according to the announcement for the show Salvia can be snorted, which is actually impossible, for the only way salvinorin A can be absorbed is by either chewing Salvia leaves for half an hour, or smoking it at a very high temperature.

Another falsehood is that Salvia divinorum would be as powerful as LSD. This is another misconception, for it’s only the active compound, salvinorin-A, that is active at doses similar to LSD, but one will still have to ingest quite a lot of plant material to experience any effects. So the plant itself, or the leaves, are not at all as powerful as LSD. Moreover, to compare their effects is completely unscientific, for LSD works through completely different neuropathways, and everyone who has tried both of them know how their effects differ tremendously. One could rightly say sacred mushrooms have effects similar to LSD, but there really is no plant or drug that can be compared with Salvia.

Having said all that, we leave it up to the better informed readers of this site to distinguish fact from fiction. Here you can see the show yourself. The video also contains a segment from another TV-show called “Doctors”.

The Dr. Phil show on YouTube

For the entire Dr. Phil show, watch the video’s here and here.