|
|
|
|
Methaqualone
|
| |
|
| |
Methaqualone is a sedative drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general CNS depressant. It was used in the 1960s and 1970s as an hypnotic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant. It has also been used illegally as a recreational drug, commonly known as Quaaludes (particularly in the 1970s in North America) or as Mandrax (methaqualone 250 mgs combined with diphenhydramine 5 mg). In the 2000s, it is widely used as a recreational drug in South Africa.
Quaalude (Methaqualone, Sopor) was first synthesised in India in 1955 by M.L.Gujral and was soon introduced to Japanese and European consumers as a safe barbiturate substitute.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Methaqualone' Start a new discussion about 'Methaqualone' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Methaqualone is a sedative drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general CNS depressant. It was used in the 1960s and 1970s as an hypnotic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant. It has also been used illegally as a recreational drug, commonly known as Quaaludes (particularly in the 1970s in North America) or as Mandrax (methaqualone 250 mgs combined with diphenhydramine 5 mg). In the 2000s, it is widely used as a recreational drug in South Africa.
Quaalude (Methaqualone, Sopor) was first synthesised in India in 1955 by M.L.Gujral and was soon introduced to Japanese and European consumers as a safe barbiturate substitute. By 1965 it was the most commonly prescribed sedative in Britain. In England, it has been sold legally under the names Malsed, Malsedin, and Renoval. In 1965 Methaqualone and an antihistamine combination were sold as the sedative drug Mandrax by Rousell Laboratories. At about the same time (1965) it was starting to become a popular recreational drug named mandies or mandrake. In 1972 it was the sixth best selling sedative on the market in the United States, where it was legally sold by the name of Quaalude, and luding out, was a popular college pastime.
Effects
Usual effects include relaxation, euphoria, and drowsiness, also reducing heart rate, respiration, increased sexual arousal (aphrodisia) and parasthesias (Numbness of the fingers and toes). Larger doses can bring about depression, slurred speech, headache and photophobia (pain in the eyes when exposed to light).
An overdose can cause delirium, convulsions, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, vomiting, renal insufficiency, coma, and death through cardiac or respiratory arrest. It resembles barbiturate poisoning, but with increased motor difficulties and a lower incidence of cardiac or respiratory depression. Toxicity is treated with diazepam and sometimes other anticonvulsants.
Illegal use as a recreational drug
Quaaludes became increasingly popular as a recreational drug in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The drug was used during sexual activity because of heightened sensitivity coupled with relaxation and euphoria. The drug was more tightly regulated in Britain under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and in the U.S. from 1973. It was withdrawn from many developed markets in the 1980s, being made a Schedule I drug in the US in 1984.
Smoking methaqualone, either alone or as an adulterant added to various legal and illegal smoking mixtures, gained popularity in the United States during the mid-1970s. When smoked, methaqualone gives the user an immediate trance-like euphoria that quickly wears off. Because the various binders and inert ingredients that were contained in the pill form were toxic when smoked, this practice was roundly decried by the medical community as a serious health risk. Smoking methaqualone pills can lead to emphysema and other chronic lung disorders, most notably talcosis.
South Africa
Commonly known as Mandrax or buttons, it is not taken orally but is crushed and mixed in a pipe (or in the neck of a broken bottle) with marijuana. Mandrax is one of the most commonly used hard drugs in South Africa. The low price (South African Rand R30.00 average, which is about USD $2.60 or EUR €2.00 ) of methaqualone together with the ready availability of cheap, low-grade marijuana make it (in addition to crystal meth and temazepam) the preferred hard drug of the low-income section of South African society.
Because methaqualone is no longer legally produced, illicit manufacture either in India or in South Africa itself—or in other African countries—produces methaqualone for the South African market.
See also
External links
- Frontline discusses quaaludes as part of the history of methamphetamine
|
| |
|
|
