Editing Methaqualone (section)

=== Recreational ===
[[File:Quaalude.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A variety of methaqualone pills and capsules]]
Methaqualone became increasingly popular as a recreational drug in the late 1960s and 1970s, known variously as "ludes" or "sopers" and "soaps" (''sopor'' is a [[Latin]] word for sleep) in the United States and "[[mandrake]]s" and "mandies" in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

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 It was withdrawn from many developed markets in the early 1980s. In the United States it was withdrawn in 1983 and made a [[Controlled Substances Act#Schedule I drugs|Schedule I]] drug in 1984. It has a DEA [[ACSCN]] of 2565 and in 2022 the aggregate annual manufacturing quota for the United States was 60<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Established Aggregate Production Quotas for Schedule I and II Controlled Substances and Assessment of Annual Needs for the List I Chemicals Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine, and Phenylpropanolamine for 2022 | work = Federal Register, the Daily Register of the United States Government | author =  Drug Enforcement Administration | date = 2 December 2021 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/02/2021-26227/established-aggregate-production-quotas-for-schedule-i-and-ii-controlled-substances-and-assessment }}</ref> grams.

Mention of its possible use in some types of cancer and AIDS treatments has periodically appeared in the literature since the late 1980s. Research does not appear to have reached an advanced stage. The DEA has also added the methaqualone analogue [[mecloqualone]] (also a result of some incomplete clandestine syntheses) to Schedule I as ACSCN 2572, with a manufacturing quota of 30 g.<ref name=":0" />

[[Gene Haislip]], the former head of the Chemical Control Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told the PBS documentary program ''[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]]'', "We beat 'em." By working with governments and manufacturers around the world, the DEA was able to halt production and, Haislip said, "eliminated the problem".<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Ferns S | url = http://www.deamuseum.org/education/transcripts/DEAM_GeneHaislip_102507.pdf | title = Lecture: Gene Haislip : The Chemical Connection: A Historical Perspective on Chemical Control | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140331040934/http://www.deamuseum.org/education/transcripts/DEAM_GeneHaislip_102507.pdf | archive-date= 31 March 2014 | work = Drug Enforcement Administration Museum Lecture Series | location = Arlington, Virginia | date = 25 October 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Piccini S | url = https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine_pdf/2010-spring.pdf#page=38 | title = Drug Warrior: The DEA's Gene Haislip '60, B.C.L. '63 Battled Worldwide Against the Illegal Drug Trade – and Scored a Rare Victory | work = William & Mary Alumni Magazine | publisher = [[College of William & Mary]] | date = Spring 2010 }}</ref> Methaqualone was manufactured in the United States under the name Quaalude by the pharmaceutical firms [[William H. Rorer, Inc.|Rorer]] and Lemmon with the numbers 714 stamped on the tablet, so people often referred to Quaalude as 714's, "Lemmons", or "Lemmon 7's".

Methaqualone was also manufactured in the US under the trade names Sopor and Parest. After the legal manufacture of the drug ended in the United States in 1982, underground laboratories in [[Mexico]] continued the illegal manufacture of methaqualone throughout the 1980s, continuing the use of the "714" stamp, until their popularity waned in the early 1990s. Drugs purported to be methaqualone are in a significant majority of cases found to be inert, or contain diphenhydramine or benzodiazepines.

Illicit methaqualone is one of the most commonly used recreational drugs in [[South Africa]]. Manufactured clandestinely, often in India, it comes in tablet form, but is smoked with marijuana. This method of ingestion is known as "white pipe".<ref name="SA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.drugaware.co.za/mandrax.html|title=Mandrax|year=2003|work=DrugAware|publisher=Reality Media|access-date=2009-08-13}}</ref><ref name="Cochrane">{{Cite journal | vauthors = McCarthy G, Myers B, Siegfried N | title = Treatment for methaqualone dependence in adults | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | issue = 2 | pages = CD004146 | date = April 2005 | pmid = 15846700 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD004146.pub2}}</ref> It is popular elsewhere in Africa and in India.<ref name="Cochrane" />