# Does everyone know what “quaaludes” are? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580 "2015-07-08T15:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/1 "2015-07-08T15:18:44Z")
I was listening to news reports about the latest twists in the ongoing Bill Cosby saga. Allegedly, he gave quaaludes to women in order to have sexual intercourse with them (something like that). Some of the reports didn’t even bother to explain what quaaludes are, although one could guess what this was about and that they weren’t talking about chocolate cookies. Anyway, I had to look it up. Admittedly, I have lived a sheltered and, frankly, dull life and I am quite the opposite of “street savvy”. But am I really the only person who doesn’t know what quaaludes are? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/2 "2015-07-08T15:28:46Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Admittedly, I have lived a sheltered and, frankly, dull life and I am quite the opposite of “street savvy”. But am I really the only person who doesn’t know what quaaludes are? Probably. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/3 "2015-07-08T15:31:26Z")
It might be an age thing, I think people in their 40s or older will remember at least hearing about them. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/4 "2015-07-08T15:37:48Z")
I’ve known about them forever, but never had the pleasure. Banned before I was old enough for such things. Thanks, Reagan! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/5 "2015-07-08T15:39:07Z")
I’m just old enough to have been warned about them in high school health class. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/6 "2015-07-08T15:44:23Z")
Never took one myself but knew people who had. They called them “downers” or “Ludes”. I always thought of them as the opposite of speed. I haven’t heard anyone talk about either of them since the mid 80s though. I don’t know if there’s a more desirable alternative, or they just lost popularity. It seems like they might have been called “beans” too because they looked like kidney beans, unless that was something totally different and I’m confused. It’s been a while. This was a crowd dealing weed and dabbling in coke and acid. I don’t know if your average drinker or pot smoker would know what they were. I knew some drugged up folks in my youth! Glad I followed the other fork in the road! I did have some yummy mixed drinks at a club in the early 90s called a Qualude. Fruity frozen thing. Had 3 or 4 and don’t remember going home (boyfriend drove). They were strong! Might have been the drunkest night of my life! Never had another. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/7 "2015-07-08T15:52:54Z")
Before they stopped legal production of Quaaludes, I took quite a few in my time. They were the most powerful downer I’ve ever ingested, and that’s saying something. (I remember Nembutal as a better high though–are they still around?) Anyway, one thing I remember about Quaaludes is that you couldn’t take more than one or maybe even half of one, without puking your guts out. Back then, I was 5’5" and only about a 100 lbs, but still I saw big football guys lose their cookies on 'ludes. (Once in the backseat of my Chevy Nova!) Powerful shit. Great cars… What a time. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/8 "2015-07-08T15:55:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > It might be an age thing, I think people in their 40s or older will remember at least hearing about them. Along with Bennies, Dexies and lots of other slang that has fallen by the wayside. Just always be sure to stay away from the brown acid. It isn’t poison but it isn’t very good either. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/9 "2015-07-08T15:59:50Z")
Quaaludes are an arctic mammal, much like a seal. They’re really slow and dopey and you can prong them any time you want. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/10 "2015-07-08T16:06:56Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’ve known about them forever, but never had the pleasure. Banned before I was old enough for such things. Thanks, Reagan! Ludes were pretty cool, IME. The polar opposite of speed. GREAT sex drug when used by two or more consenting adults. I knew a guy (a really fucked up guy) who was prescribed them in order to be “normal”. He took half doses and stockpiled, selling what he saved. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/11 "2015-07-08T16:10:52Z")
I knew they were some kind of drug - that’s pretty much it. I was never one for recreational chemical ingestion. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/12 "2015-07-08T16:12:33Z")
Yeah, they’re what those brain-aliens bid on the gladiator games on that old _Star Trek_ episode. Yes, of course I know what Quaaludes are. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/13 "2015-07-08T16:12:47Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I was never one for recreational chemical ingestion. No worries, I apparently took up the slack.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/14 "2015-07-08T16:23:18Z")
Younger people might know what they are because of Wolf of Wall Street, where some of the characters are really excited about getting some, and one scene where Leonardo DiCaprio takes one and loses basically all control of his muscles. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/15 "2015-07-08T16:32:42Z")
I’m familiar with quaaludes from Ben Stein’s book [Ludes](http://www.amazon.com/Ludes-Benjamin-Stein/dp/0312500122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436371935&sr=8-1&keywords=%27Ludes) as well as the movie based on the book, [The Boost](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094783/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_90). ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/16 "2015-07-08T16:44:43Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Admittedly, I have lived a sheltered and, frankly, dull life and I am quite the opposite of “street savvy”. But am I really the only person who doesn’t know what quaaludes are? From all the articles I’ve seen in my Facebook news feed, I’d say that a whole lot of people don’t know what they are. I find this amazing. But I had an (_ahem_) interesting time in college. > [@Sattua](#): > > I’m just old enough to have been warned about them in high school health class. I think I took the same class! My friends and I giggled madly at the horrible “nicknames” for various types of drugs. I always thought that some stoner just made stuff up to tell law enforcement and the writers of health textbooks. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/17 "2015-07-08T17:00:28Z")
Fans of the band The Tubes would certainly be aware of the term.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/18 "2015-07-08T17:07:21Z")
I know exactly what they are, but I lived through the 70’s and 80’s. What I don’t know is what the kids today are taking to get high. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/19 "2015-07-08T17:09:24Z")
The scene in Total Recall when Quaid and Melina get a ride from Benny to Venusville. This is right before Quato appears. It’s called a Qualude. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/20 "2015-07-08T17:17:38Z")
We called them Quinlans, under the impression that those were what she took. Apparently that’s not true, at least not definite, but wtf did I know - I was in high school. Anyway, yes, I knew what they are. If I felt like getting paralytically wasted, there was always Southern Comfort, so I have no personal experience with them. Or maybe I do, but I just don’t remember. I’m 59, so far. Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580.md?page=2)