# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/41 "2015-07-09T05:09:15Z")
[RORER 714’s baby!](http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/01/28/free-of-ones-melancholy-self/) The drug to get you shit-faced in the early 70’s. (Check out the last advertisement in the link. Nobody who every did Quaaludes looked that _perky_ the next morning). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/42 "2015-07-09T06:47:15Z")
I knew they were old-fashioned sedatives, but, of course, the context makes that clear in every article. I had no idea how strong they were, and now it makes sense why the admission of “consensual use” by Cosby is seen as such a smoking gun. It seems odd that so many women would agree to become completely pliant and unable to move and then have sex in that condition. You can much more easily see the scenario where they consent to the quaaludes, not knowing how dadblasted powerful they are, but do not consent to the sex. And of course many are going to pass out or have amnesiac effects. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/43 "2015-07-09T14:00:01Z")
Fooockin’ luuuudes, maaaan. \ > [@PSXer](#): > > 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 So only degenerates take drugs? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/44 "2015-07-09T14:23:26Z")
This strikes me as making an interesting case for determining whether the evidence is “prejudicial” vs. “probative”. Obviously, the evidence is highly “prejudicial”. Just look at the remarks in this thread. People who use drugs are often presumed to be bad people and thus, presumably by some, more likely to commit crimes in general (“degenerates”). The question, in a court (or at least in the Canadian courts I know best), would be whether it had “probative” value for the rape accusations sufficient to outweigh the prejudicial value. I’ve never done criminal law, so I dunno how that debate would pan out. Does it create a significant factual pattern (that is, someone who admits to using drugs during sex is thus logically more likely to use drugs to stun his victims for rape?) ---
**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 9, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/45 "2015-07-09T14:40:56Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > So only degenerates take drugs? I know a guy who takes insulin several times a day. He’s a degenerate. One data point, hope it helps. ---
**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 9, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/46 "2015-07-09T15:02:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I know a guy who takes insulin several times a day. He’s a degenerate. One data point, hope it helps. Since I take Metroprol Tar I could be Point Two! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/47 "2015-07-09T15:09:16Z")
According to the _Scarface_ documentary quaaludes are what you give to women to make them love you again. [cite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gFGYaLRYjk) ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/48 "2015-07-09T16:11:38Z")
Until the news story about Cosby and quaaludes I honestly thought it was a type of foreign currency because growing up my dad would always say “that’ll cost you 10 quaaludes”. I thought it was some sort of old western money or something. ---
**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 9, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/49 "2015-07-09T16:57:45Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > Until the news story about Cosby and quaaludes I honestly thought it was a type of foreign currency because growing up my dad would always say “that’ll cost you 10 quaaludes”. I thought it was some sort of old western money or something. You sure he wasn’t saying quatloos? [Quatloo - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatloo) ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/50 "2015-07-09T17:02:20Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You sure he wasn’t saying quatloos? [Quatloo - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatloo) :smack: Yeah that’s what he was saying. Thank you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/51 "2015-07-09T17:13:17Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > It might be an age thing, I think people in their 40s or older will remember at least hearing about them. Yeah, but that’s about the limit of it in my case. That they’re an illegal recreational drug, most popular back in the 1970s and perhaps 1980s, is the sum total of my knowledge about them. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/52 "2015-07-09T17:36:19Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Fans of the band The Tubes would certainly be aware of the term.😃 Yea, “Quay Lewd” was the first thing I thought as well. 🆒 ---
**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 9, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/53 "2015-07-09T17:43:53Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > :smack: Yeah that’s what he was saying. Thank you! 😃 If your dad _does_ have some quaaludes, let him know I would happily give him some Quatloos in trade. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/54 "2015-07-09T18:20:28Z")
420? Pfft. 714! I’m 57 and knew 'ludes to be fairly common in the mid-late 70s. Everyone I ever spoke to who them (usually combined with alcohol) said how absolutely, completely fucked up they got. Not my idea of fun so I never partook. Weed, booze and the occasional hallucinogen were plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/55 "2015-07-09T19:26:31Z")
**Do not** combine them with amphetamines. Fatal drug interaction. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/56 "2015-07-09T19:47:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Quaaludes are to calming as an adult alligator in your bedroom is to disquieting… Well put. I have three quaalude stories, all cautionary and from the 70’s: Friend #1 was at a party and was sitting on a kitchen counter. Took a lude, place got crowded, friend moved over on the counter. Some time later she noticed she was no longer on the counter but on the electric stove. And it was ON. She still has a ‘target’ scar on her left butt cheek. Relative #1: took a lude, drove, totalled her car. Repeated twice more _in the next two weeks_. Friend #2: hanging with a a boyfriend, took a lude, woke up next morning in a large bed with not one but two guys. She thinks the sex might have been good but who the bleep can remember. None of these people were noobs to recreational drugs or partying or driving or hanging with guys. Quaaludes were STRONG stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/57 "2015-07-09T22:27:10Z")
I’m 31. I know that they’re pretty serious tranquilizers which aren’t made in the US anymore, and they had the number 714 stamped on them. On reference: They’re technically sedatives and hypnotics, and they’re still available in South Africa. Now, which one of you reprobates still remembers what Miltowns were? ---
**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 9, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/58 "2015-07-09T22:38:50Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Now, which one of you reprobates still remembers what Miltowns were? I spent my youth working in garages and a Harley shop and even I had to Google that one. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/59 "2015-07-10T01:37:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > (Pharmacist here) I had never heard of vomiting being a side effect; were you also consuming alcohol or other drugs? > > . Vomiting is listed as a common side effect on the 4-5 drug sites I just checked… ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580/60 "2015-07-10T16:22:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > It might be an age thing, I think people in their 40s or older will remember at least hearing about them. Especially if your parents subscribed to _Readers Digest._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-everyone-know-what-quaaludes-are/724580.md?page=4)