OFFICIAL NAMES: Methaqualone

STREET NAMES: Quaaludes, ludes, quads, quay, sopors, 714s, mandrax, mandrakes, mandies, buttons, disco biscuits, love drug

DRUG CLASSIFICATIONS: Schedule I, non-narcotic depressant

Overview

Methaqualone is an addictive, or habit-forming, synthetic drug that alters brain function. In their search for new medications to fight malaria, a potentially deadly tropical disease spread by mosquitoes, scientists in India first synthesized methaqualone in 1955. The drug was found to be hypnotic and a potent sedative, but it was then thought to be non-addictive.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United Kingdom (UK) began marketing the drug in the 1960s. Despite emerging international medical reports of possible dependence and abuse problems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also approved methaqua-lone use by prescription. In 1965 U.S. manufacturers introduced methaqualone to the medical community for the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders. Although it was available under a...