Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesWhen Miley Cyrus smoked salvia back in 2010, she giggled and hallucinated seeing Liam Hemsworth.
But if her LOL costar Demi Moore did smoke the same herbal substance, her reaction to it was far more serious: convulsions and a near loss of consciousness.
So was the legal substance what caused Moore, 49, to be rushed to Sherman Oaks Hospital Monday night? Dr. David Baron—who has never treated the actress—told E! News….
It's quite possible. "Even though we are speculating, it is not unreasonable to believe [the substance Moore's friends say she was smoking in the 911 call] may have been salvia," Dr. Baron, former chief of staff at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center, said. "It makes perfect sense. Salvia is in the herb family."
In the frantic 911 call released earlier today, the star's friends report that Moore was suffering seizures after smoking something "similar to incense" that was not marijuana. (The call does not mention salvia or say what it was Moore had taken.)
Although salvia is legal in the state of California for adults, Dr. Baron said the substance "acts in the brain as a powerful hallucinogen" and can be "perhaps as powerful as LSD in some people."
As for Moore's friends being told by the 911 operator to wipe her mouth free of liquid and keep her head to the side? Dr. Baron explained those instructions are to prevent the risk of injuries when a person loses consciousness. "There is the risk of vomiting asphyxiation, i.e., choking on your own vomit or on your own tongue," he said.
Dr. Baron also pointed out that with salvia, there is the potential for long-term risk of addiction and damage to the lungs from smoking the substance. He noted there have not been studies that salvia causes permanent brain damage.
Whatever the case, we wish Demi a quick recovery.