Editing Methaqualone

'''Methaqualone''' is a [[sedative]]-[[hypnotic]] [[medication|drug]] that is similar in effect to [[barbiturate]]s, a general [[central nervous system]] [[depressant]]. Its use peaked in the 1960s and 1970s as a [[hypnotic]], for the treatment of [[insomnia]], and as a [[sedative]] and [[muscle relaxant]]. It has also been used illegally as a recreational drug, commonly known as '''Quaaludes''' ({{pron-en|ˈkweɪluːdz}} {{respell|KWAY|l'''oo'''dz}}) or '''Sopors''' (particularly in the 1970s in North America) depending on the manufacturer. Since at least 2001, it has been widely used in [[South Africa]],<ref name="SA">{{cite web|url=http://www.drugaware.co.za/mandrax.html|title=Mandrax|year=2003|work=DrugAware|publisher=Reality Media|accessdate=2009-08-13}}</ref> where it is commonly referred to as "smarties" or "geluk-tablette" (meaning happy tablets). Clandestinely produced methaqualone is still seized by government agencies and police forces around the world.

Methaqualone was first synthesized in India in 1951 by Indra Kishore Kacker and Syed Hussain Zaheer,<ref>p. 142, A survey of reported synthesis of methaqualone and some positional and structural isomers, Etienne F. van Zyl, ''Forensic Science International'' '''122''', #2-3 (1 November 2001), pp. 142–149, {{doi|10.1016/S0379-0738(01)00484-4}}.</ref><ref>Potential Analgesics. Part I. Synthesis of substituted 4-quinazolones, I. K. Kacker and S. H. Zaheer, ''J. Ind. Chem. Soc.'' '''28''' (1951), pp. 344–346.</ref> and was soon introduced to Japanese and European consumers as a safe barbiturate substitute.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} By 1965, it was the most commonly prescribed sedative in Britain, where it has been sold legally under the names Malsed, Malsedin, and Renoval. In 1965, a Methaqualone/antihistamine combination was sold as the sedative drug Mandrax, by Roussel Laboratories (now part of [[Sanofi-Aventis]]). At about the same time, it was becoming a popular recreational drug (called "mandies" or "mandrake" or "mandrix"). In 1972, it was the sixth-bestselling sedative in the [[USA]],<ref>''[http://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/32.pdf GC/MS Assays for Abused Drugs in Body fluids]'', p. 39</ref> where it was legal under the [[brand name]] Quaalude; at that time "luding out" was a popular college pastime.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scheindlin|first=Stanley|year=2005|title=Antimalarials: Shortages and Searches |journal=Molecular Interventions|volume=5|issue=5|pages=268–272|doi=10.1124/mi.5.5.2|pmid=16249521}}</ref>

==References==
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