Methaqualone 287out to be loners with a cold family background: Fully 10% said their closest
family relationship was with the dog; 30% said they weren’t close to any
family member at all. Almost all the persons using methaqualone as an “aph-
rodisiac” had previously been using other drugs for the same purpose. None
of the persons seemed capable of intimacy while sober, and all used metha-
qualone and other substances simply to get intoxicated enough to permit some
form of temporary superficial imitation of intimacy. Such drug use has an air
of desperation and sadness inconsistent with the normal understanding of
what an aphrodisiac does.
One study found that emergency psychiatric hospital patients who abused
methaqualone (definitely not a population of ordinary individuals) tended to
menace other persons.
Drug interactions.Animal research shows that injection of THC, the main
active component ofmarijuana, reduces the amount of methaqualone that is
normally needed to get the drug’s effects, which can make an overdose more
likely. Animal and human studies usingalcoholhave had the same effect on
a methaqualone dose—such findings are supported by examination of hospital
emergency room cases, where analysis showed that methaqualone emergen-
cies typically involved simultaneous ingestion of alcohol. Using alcohol and
methaqualone simultaneously is a practice called “luding out.” Indulgers in
that technique say it makes them feel relaxed, interferes with their ability to
move, makes them more tolerant of pain, and produces tingling in their fin-
gers, lips, and tongue.
Tests can detect methaqualone in the body days after a dose, and alcohol
lengthens the time that a methaqualone dose lasts. That combination can in-
fluence performance on various behavior and performance tests even three
days after methaqualone is taken.
A woman’s menstrual cycle can affect her body’s ability to metabolize meth-
aqualone; a dose can last a much shorter time when she is ovulating, but oral
contraceptives can eliminate that effect.
Cancer.Not enough scientific information to report.
Pregnancy.The drug has produced birth defects in rats, and offspring had
a death rate four times higher than that of a matched group receiving no drug.
Researchers doing that work cautioned that the results do not necessarily carry
over to humans. In rabbit studies the rate of birth defects from pregnant fe-
males receiving methaqualone did not significantly differ from drug-free fe-
males, but there was a big difference in death rates of offspring. Rabbits with
fetal exposure to methaqualone died three times as often as those without
exposure, a 6% death rate for those with exposure and 2% for those without.
Analysts of such experiments note that in order to harm a fetus the metha-
qualone dose has to be high enough to poison the pregnant female, so the
practical meaning of such results may be that normal doses of the drug are
safe during pregnancy. Effects on human fetal development are unclear. Hu-
man reports tend to involve combinations with other drugs, making it hard
to determine methaqualone’s role. Given the uncertainties, pregnant women
are advised to avoid the drug.
Combination products.Mandrax and Toquilone Compositum contain both
methaqualone and the antihistamine diphenhydramine. Some research indi-