Editing Methaqualone (section)

== Society and culture ==

Methaqualone became increasingly popular as a [[Recreational drug use|recreational drug]] and [[club drug]] in the late 1960s and 1970s, known variously as "ludes" or "disco biscuits"<ref name="newsweek">{{cite news |date=August 2, 2015 |title=Do People Still Take Quaaludes? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/do-people-still-take-quaaludes-357914 |access-date=22 July 2023 |work=Newsweek |publisher=NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC |vauthors=Bekiempis V}}</ref>  due to its widespread use during the popularity of [[disco]] in the 1970s, or "sopers" (also "soaps") in the United States and Canada, and "mandrakes" and "mandies" in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The substance was sold both as a [[free base]] and as a salt (hydrochloride).

=== Brand names ===
It was sold under the brand name Quaalude (sometimes stylized "Quāālude" in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]),<ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Rile K |title=Winter Music |date=1983 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=Boston and Toronto |isbn=978-0-316-74657-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/wintermusic00rile/page/41 41, 59] |edition=First |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wintermusic00rile/page/41 }}</ref> and Mandrax in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[South Africa]], and [[Australia]].

=== Regulation ===
Methaqualone was initially placed in Schedule I as defined by the UN [[Convention on Psychotropic Substances]], but was moved to Schedule II in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.incb.org/incb/en/psychotropic-substances/green-lists.html |title=green-lists| vauthors = Sandouk L |website=www.incb.org|access-date=2017-09-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918112353/http://www.incb.org/incb/en/psychotropic-substances/green-lists.html|archive-date=2017-09-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Canada, methaqualone is listed in Schedule III of the [[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act]] and requires a prescription, but it is no longer manufactured. Methaqualone is banned in India.<ref name=ban>{{Cite web|url=http://cdsco.nic.in/html/drugsbanned.html |title=Drugs banned in India |publisher=Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, Dte.GHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India |access-date=2013-09-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053621/http://cdsco.nic.in/html/drugsbanned.html |archive-date=2015-02-21}}</ref>

In the United States it was withdrawn from the market in 1983 and made a Schedule I drug in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |work = PubChem |title=Methaqualone |url= https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6292 |access-date=2021-05-19| publisher = U.S. National Library of Medicine |language=en}}</ref>

=== 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" />

=== Chemical weapon – Project Coast ===
{{main|Project Coast}}

Illegal efforts to weaponize methaqualone have occurred. During the 1980s, the [[apartheid]] regime in South Africa ordered the covert manufacture of a large amount of methaqualone at the [[Front organization|front company]] [[Delta G Scientific Company]], as part of a secret [[chemical weapon]]s program known as [[Project Coast]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Project Coast: Apartheid's Chemical and Biological Warfare Program |url=https://unidir.org/sites/default/files/publication/pdfs//project-coast-apartheid-s-chemical-and-biological-warfare-programme-296.pdf |publisher=United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) |location=Geneva, Switzerland}}</ref> Methaqualone was given the codename ''MosRefCat'' (Mossgas Refinery Catalyst). Details of this activity came to light during the 1998 hearings of the post-apartheid [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]].

=== Sexual assault ===
{{Main|Drug-facilitated sexual assault}}
Actor [[Bill Cosby]] admitted in a 2015 civil deposition to giving methaqualone to women before [[Bill Cosby sexual assault cases|allegedly sexually assaulting them]].<ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Bowley G, Ember S  |date=2015-07-19 |title=Bill Cosby, in Deposition, Said Drugs and Fame Helped Him Seduce Women |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/arts/bill-cosby-deposition-reveals-calculated-pursuit-of-young-women-using-fame-drugs-and-deceit.html |access-date=2023-01-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Bowley G, Somaiya R |date=2015-07-07 |title=Bill Cosby Admission About Quaaludes Offers Accusers Vindication |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/08/business/bill-cosby-said-in-2005-he-obtained-drugs-to-give-to-women.html |access-date=2023-01-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Film director [[Roman Polanski]] was convicted in 1977 of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl after giving her alcohol and methaqualone.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-30 |title=What does Hollywood's reverence for child rapist Roman Polanski tell us? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/30/hollywood-reverence-child-rapist-roman-polanski-convicted-40-years-on-run |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en|author-first1=Hadley|author-last1=Freeman}}</ref>

=== Popular culture ===
Quaaludes are mentioned in the 1983 film ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]'', when Al Pacino's character Tony Montana says, "Another quaalude... she'll love me again." The little white pills, referred to as "ludes," get a cameo along with several other illicit drugs in the 1983 Baby Boomer drama, ''[[The Big Chill (film)|The Big Chill]]''.<ref name=ludes>[https://www.yahoo.com/news/big-chill-boomers-stumble-truth-103056815.html The Big Chill: When Boomers Stumble on the Truth about Their Own Failings], ''National Review'', Kyle Smith, April 7, 2021</ref> Quaaludes are also referenced extensively in the 2013 film [[The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film)|''The Wolf of Wall Street'']].<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Loughrey C | date = 18 September 2017 |title=Jordan Belfort had to teach Leonardo DiCaprio how to look like he was on drugs for Wolf of Wall Street |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/wolf-of-wall-street-leonardo-dicaprio-jordan-belfort-look-like-on-drugs-for-movie-quualudes-a7952646.html |access-date= 24 January 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> They are briefly mentioned in the movie ''[[Dinner in America]]'' as the reason behind the behavior of one of the characters.

Parody [[glam rock]]er "Quay Lewd", one of the costumed performance personae used by [[The Tubes|Tubes]] singer [[Fee Waybill]], was named after the drug. Many songs also refer to quaaludes, including the following: [[David Bowie]]'s "[[Time (David Bowie song)|Time]]" ("Time, in quaaludes and red wine") and "[[Rebel Rebel]]" ("You got your cue line/And a handful of 'ludes"); "Cosmic Doo Doo" by the American [[country music]] singer-songwriter [[Blaze Foley]] ("Got some quaaludes in their purse"); "[[That Smell]]" by [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] ("Can't speak a word when you're full of 'ludes"); "[[Sheik Yerbouti|Flakes]]" by [[Frank Zappa]] ("(Wanna buy some mandies, Bob?)"); "[[Straight Edge (song)|Straight Edge]]" by [[Minor Threat]] ("Laugh at the thought of eating ludes"); "Kind of Girl" by [[French Montana]] ("That high got me feelin' like the Quaaludes from ''Wolf of Wall Street''"); and "[[Nights (Frank Ocean song)|Nights]]" by [[Frank Ocean]] ("This feel like a Quaalude")

[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 18)|Season 18]] of ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' addresses Quaalude administration as a [[date rape drug]] in episode 9, "Decline and Fall", which aired January 18, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christiantimes.com/trends/law-order-svu-season-18-episode-9-spoilers-bob-gunton-guest-stars-as-billionaire-rapist.html|title='Law & Order: SVU' season 18 episode 9 spoilers: Bob Gunton guest stars as billionaire rapist|website=The Christian Times|author=Janna Dela Cruz|language=en|date=January 15, 2017|access-date=February 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvfanatic.com/2017/01/law-and-order-svu-season-18-episode-9-review-decline-and-fall/|website=TV Fanatic|title=Law & Order: SVU Season 18 Episode 9 Review: Decline and Fall|author=Jack Ori|date=January 18, 2017|access-date=February 19, 2023}}</ref> In [[True Detective season 1]], [[Rust Cohle]]'s use of Quaaludes is briefly mentioned in several episodes.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2657398/characters/nm1865462 |title="True Detective" The Long Bright Dark (TV Episode 2014) - IMDb |access-date=2024-09-09 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

It is also used by Patrick Melrose in [[Edward St Aubyn]]'s 1992 novel ''Bad News''.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

In the 2024 film ''[[Maria (2024 film)|Maria]]'', [[Maria Callas]], played by [[Angelina Jolie]], stuffs Mandrax into the pockets of her coats and bags so that she'll be able to escape detection by her butler/guardian  Ferruccio ([[Pierfrancesco Favino]]).