What are Quaaludes?
Quaaludes or methaqualone was a prescription drug used in the treatment of anxiety, called an anxiolytic, or to promote sleep. Methaqualone was a central nervous system depressant, and is comparable to barbiturates. When it was used in prescribed doses, it tended to promote relaxation, sleepiness, and for some, a feeling of euphoria. This euphoric feeling was one of the reasons that quaaludes, also known by their street name of “ludes,” began to be used as a recreational drug. They were a popular drug for abuse during much of the 1970s, though they became increasingly more difficult to find as both the US and Britain began to tighten control around their use and dispensation. Concern over the abuse of quaaludes become so high that that drugs were withdrawn from the market in the US in 1984. Methaqualone is now considered a Schedule I drug, and is defined as having no legitimate use because of its high risk of addiction. Much of Europe has also banned the drug, but in certain countries,
