Methaqualone
Pronunciation:meth-a-KWAY-lohn
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:72-44-6
Formal Names:Dormutil, Hyminal, Mandrax, Melsed, Melsedin, Mequelone, Me-
quin, Methadorm, Mozambin, Optimil, Parest, Quaalude, Revonal, Somnafac,
Sopor, Toquilone Compositum, Triador, Tuazole
Informal Names:Bandits, Beiruts, Blou Bulle, Blue Bulls, Drunken Monkey, Ew-
ings, Flamingos, Flowers, Four Strokes, Genuines, Germans, Golfsticks, Hum-
bles, Knoppies, Lizards, Loss of Memory, Love Drug, Ludes, Luds, Lula,
Magwheels, Mandies, Mind Benders (withheroin), Pressouts, Pupumala, Q,
Randy Mandies, 714, Shiny Tops, Sopes, Sporos, Strawberries, Wagon Wheels,
White Pipe (Mandrax and marijuana)
Type:Depressant.Seepage 19
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 2565)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess
Pregnancy Category:None
Uses.Methaqualone was invented in India during the 1950s as part of a
program seeking substances for treating malaria. Experiments suggest meth-
aqualone has anticonvulsant properties. Although the substance does little to
relieve pain, experimentation indicates it might boost pain relief provided by
codeine. Methaqualone may have cough suppression qualities but has not
received general medical usage for that purpose. When introduced into Amer-
ican medicine in the 1960s, the compound was used to calm people and help
them sleep and was welcomed as an alternative to barbiturates. The drug’s
actions have been likened to those ofpentobarbital.
A clinical experiment found that a bedtime dose of the drug did not affect
users’ ability to move around after awakening the next morning, which is not
always the case with insomnia medicine. Those results were supported by
another experiment where volunteers did so well on tests the next day and
the following day that the researchers optimistically speculated that job per-
formance might improve among people using the drug against insomnia. Brit-
ain’s Royal Air Force even thought the drug had potential to help pilots get
proper rest on long missions.
Drawbacks.Unwanted actions of methaqualone may include tingling sen-
sations in hands and feet, weariness, sweating, rashes, dry mouth, nausea,