# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/21 "2015-07-08T17:32:06Z")
I’d heard of Ludes as a kid but this thread is my first real knowledge of them. Just read the Wiki to get some info. So apparently Methaqualone produces a calming effect and was prescribed for insomnia quite a bit. Does this fit with experiences for all you dopers in the know? ---
**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, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/22 "2015-07-08T17:33:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 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. Bromo-DragonFLY, computer duster and jenkem, is what I hear. Bad time to be young. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/23 "2015-07-08T17:36:10Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > 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. (Pharmacist here) I had never heard of vomiting being a side effect; were you also consuming alcohol or other drugs? I was a teenager when they were in their heyday, and while I never took them, I knew people who did, and they, combined with alcohol and/or marijuana, reduced sexual inhibitions. They weren’t necessarily a “date rape” drug; people knew what they were doing but didn’t really care. Colleagues who practiced in the 1970s said they weren’t even a controlled substance at one point! There was even discussion about making them OTC because they were thought to be “safe”, because people had attempted suicide with them and couldn’t do it. (This was the case with thalidomide too.) I agree that the news sources need to explain what Quaalude is. It’s the brand name for methaqualone, whic interestingly was available in some countries until recent years. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/24 "2015-07-08T17:47:42Z")
I heard about them when the news reported Freddie Prinze’s death. That was sad. The talking heads (or related news articles - it’s been awhile) explained that they were often used to come down from cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/25 "2015-07-08T17:48:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > GREAT sex drug when used by two or more consenting adults. Why? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/26 "2015-07-08T17:56:07Z")
Another slang term for them was “714”, because that was the number stamped on the most common tablet dose. “712” was the other one. ---
**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, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/27 "2015-07-08T17:58:28Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Methaqualone produces a calming effect and was prescribed for insomnia quite a bit. Does this fit with experiences for all you dopers in the know? Quaaludes are to calming as an adult alligator in your bedroom is to disquieting… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/28 "2015-07-08T17:59:31Z")
It was a prescription sedative and muscle relaxant that was pulled off the market in the 80s due to abuse. > **[Methaqualone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methaqualone)** > > Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude (/ˈkweɪluːd/ KWAY-lood) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg methaqualone and 25 mg diphenhydramine within the same tablet, mostly in Europe. Commercial production of methaqualone was halted in the mid-1980s due to widespread abuse and addictiveness. It is a member of the quinazolinone class. > The sedative–h... While I have zero experience with it, I don’t think it was commonly used for date rape. My impression was that it was used consensually. A lot of the recent reporting concerning Cosby seems to be by people who don’t know what quaaludes are (not that I’m defending Cosby). I saw a report where they played a bit from one of his old albums where he was talking about being 14 and talking with his friends about girls and spanish fly. The commenters seemed to think spanish fly was something that caused unconsciousness and that this bit showed his budding propensities. Of course, that is not what spanish fly does or is even claimed to do. Not that it does as claimed. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/29 "2015-07-08T18:06:51Z")
Back when, if you’ve watched _The Big Chill_, you knew about them. I don’t think _Wolf of Wall Street_ produced the same generational memory. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/30 "2015-07-08T18:34:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Quaaludes are to calming as an adult alligator in your bedroom is to disquieting… Isn’t that the truth!! In my high school, they were also called “Sopors,” or “Panty Droppers.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/31 "2015-07-08T18:41:39Z")
I know what they are but did not know they were no longer being made. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/32 "2015-07-08T18:48:07Z")
I’d only heard of them through coverage of the Roman Polanski rape case (where he drugged his underage victim with part of one, before raping her). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/33 "2015-07-08T19:06:37Z")
I’m 54, and have only the vaguest idea what Quaaludes are. Oh, I’ve heard ABOUT them since I was a teenager. I saw jokes about “ludes” in National Lampoon. I heard Rodney Dangerfield quip “My son got arrested for lewd behavior. Kid took 20 ludes!” So, I’ve always know that Quaaludes are some kind of drug. But I’ve never known what they looked like, how one consumed them (swallowed, inhaled, injected?) or what effect they had. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/34 "2015-07-08T19:18:32Z")
I grew up in the 80s and 90s, so I know of them, but I never knew anyone to use them. They’re kind of filed away in my brain with drugs like angeldust/PCP (though their effect is quite the opposite), that I remember hearing a lot about back then, but never really knew of anyone taking in the 90s and beyond, when I was in college and since (as opposed to coke, pot, LSD, shrooms, X/E, heroin, meth). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/35 "2015-07-08T19:22:35Z")
When I heard this story this morning I thought "whatever happened to “ludes” ? It kind of made me giggle that this story goes so far back that Cosby was drugging his women with them. I also don’t remember them being all that strong; maybe I took some weak ones or I just had a huge drug tolerance (entirely possible). I also thought “Quaaludes? To knock someone out?”. Again, it was a long time ago; was that used as a rape drug back in the day? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/36 "2015-07-09T02:00:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Quaaludes are to calming as an adult alligator in your bedroom is to disquieting… No shit! I had one in college about 1975. We were sitting around drinking just a few beers and I was offered one. When it kicked in I was no longer able to even sit in a simple chair. I kept melting out of the chair into a pool on the floor. It wasn’t psychedelic, that was just the way I felt. My muscles were so relaxed that I couldn’t even sit in a chair. There were no longer any bones in my body. After several amusing attempts at climbing off the floor and sitting in the chair I was poured into my bed for the night. Walking was impossible. Sex (I’m a guy) would have been impossible too. And if some guy were to give these to a woman for use as a date rape drug, her resistance would be futile too. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/37 "2015-07-09T02:40:12Z")
I was born in 1970. I’ve heard the word a few times, but (without looking at the rest of the thread) don’t know what they are. I’d guess from the context that I’ve heard them mentioned in, that they were some type of powerful tranquilizer. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/38 "2015-07-09T02:53:35Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > No shit! > > I had one in college about 1975. We were sitting around drinking just a few beers and I was offered one. > > When it kicked in I was no longer able to even sit in a simple chair. I kept melting out of the chair into a pool on the floor. It wasn’t psychedelic, that was just the way I felt. My muscles were so relaxed that I couldn’t even sit in a chair. There were no longer any bones in my body. > > After several amusing attempts at climbing off the floor and sitting in the chair I was poured into my bed for the night. Walking was impossible. Sex (I’m a guy) would have been impossible too. > > And if some guy were to give these to a woman for use as a date rape drug, her resistance would be futile too. This is why they were combined with alcohol for recreational use. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/39 "2015-07-09T04:45:18Z")
Very late 60s we moved to a different state and I started 11th grade. “Sopors” were very popular. I was going through a clean phase so I never bothered with them personally. I had never heard of them before we moved. I recall one girl, who later became a friend, who, if you mentioned any amount of money $10 or over, she’d quickly and verbally calculate how many sopors you could buy for that. And I grew to become very annoyed at people on sopors who felt they had to explain something to me. Because no matter how many times you completed their sentences, they just had to keep plugging on. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/40 "2015-07-09T05:03:27Z")
I’m a young dude and I don’t associate with degenerates so I don’t know a lot about drugs I knew what quaaludes were when they talked about the Cosby case because I knew about them from the Roman Polanski case. but when I was reading about that I didn’t know what they were and had to look it up [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580.md?page=3)