Editing Methaqualone (section)

== History ==
Methaqualone was first synthesized in India in 1951 by Indra Kishore Kacker and [[Syed Husain Zaheer]], who were conducting research on finding new [[antimalarial medication]]s.<ref name=Linder /><ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = van Zyl EF | title = A survey of reported synthesis of methaqualone and some positional and structural isomers | journal = Forensic Science International | volume = 122 | issue = 2–3 | pages = 142–9 | date = November 2001 | pmid = 11672968 | doi = 10.1016/S0379-0738(01)00484-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Kacker IK, Zaheer SH | title = Potential Analgesics. Part I. Synthesis of substituted 4-quinazolones | journal = J. Ind. Chem. Soc. | volume = 28 | date = 1951 | pages = 344–346}}</ref> In 1962, methaqualone was patented in the United States by [[Novadel-Agene|Wallace and Tiernan]].<ref>{{US Patent|3135659}}</ref> By 1965, it was the most commonly prescribed sedative in Britain, where it has been sold legally under the names Malsed, Malsedin, and Renoval. In 1965, a methaqualone/antihistamine combination was sold as the sedative drug Mandrax in Europe, by Roussel Laboratories (now part of [[Sanofi|Sanofi S.A.]]). In 1972, it was the sixth-bestselling sedative in the US,<ref name="pmid6261132">{{cite journal | vauthors = Foltz RL, Fentiman AF, Foltz RB | title = GC/MS assays for abused drugs in body fluids | journal = NIDA Research Monograph | publisher = United States Department of Health and Human Services | location = Washington, D.C. | volume = 32 | pages = 1–198 | date = August 1980 | pmid = 6261132 | url = http://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/32.pdf  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041022175440/http://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/32.pdf | archive-date = 2004-10-22}}</ref> where it was legal under the [[Brand#Brand name|brand name]] Quaalude.

Quaalude in the United States was originally manufactured in 1965 by the pharmaceutical firm [[William H. Rorer, Inc.]], based in [[Fort Washington, Pennsylvania]]. The drug name "Quaalude" is a [[portmanteau]], combining the words "quiet interlude" and shared a stylistic reference to another drug marketed by the firm, [[Maalox]].<ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine |title=Dividends: Dropping the Last 'Lude |magazine=Time |date=28 November 1983 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926386,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081222021600/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926386,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>

In 1978, Rorer sold the rights to manufacture Quaalude to the Lemmon Company of [[Sellersville, Pennsylvania]]. At that time, Rorer chairman John Eckman commented on Quaalude's bad reputation stemming from illegal manufacture and use of methaqualone, and illegal sale and use of legally prescribed Quaalude: "Quaalude accounted for less than 2% of our sales, but created 98% of our headaches."<ref name=Linder />

Both companies still regarded Quaalude as an excellent sleeping drug. Lemmon, well aware of Quaalude's public image problems, used advertisements in medical journals to urge physicians "not to permit the abuses of illegal users to deprive a legitimate patient of the drug". Lemmon also marketed a small quantity under another name, Mequin, so doctors could prescribe the drug without the negative connotations.<ref name=Linder />

The rights to Quaalude were held by the JB Roerig & Company division of [[Pfizer]], before the drug was discontinued in the United States in 1985, mainly due to its psychological addictiveness, widespread abuse, and illegal recreational use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quaaludes Again | vauthors = Silverstein S |publisher=Captain Wayne's Mad Music.com |url=http://www.madmusic.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=12080}}</ref>

A 2024 Hungarian investigative documentary reported on large-scale production and sales of the drug by the [[Hungarian People's Republic]] to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. It asserts that a Hungarian [[state-owned company]] utilized connections to [[Illegal drug trade in Colombia|Colombian drug cartels]] to facilitate the sale of extraordinary amounts to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A nagy titkosszolgálati drogjátszma – amikor a magyar Chinoin látta el kábítószerrel Amerikát {{!}} Válasz Online |url=https://www.valaszonline.hu/2024/03/12/magyarorszag-egyesult-allamok-drog-titkosszolgalat-abtl-chinoin-metakvalon-sztori/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |language=hu}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | vauthors = Jamrik L, Csók I, Dezsö A, Ficzere B |title=Vörös narkó |date=2024-01-08 |type=Documentary |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30486107/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk |access-date=2024-09-08 |publisher=X-Trame}}</ref>