Quote:
Originally Posted by
rnoldh 
Glutethimide (Doriden®) was introduced in 1954 and methaqualone ("Quaalude" Sopor®) in 1965 as safe barbiturate substitutes. Experience demonstrated, however; that their addiction liability and the severity of withdrawal symptoms were similar to those of barbiturates. By 1972, "luding out," taking methaqualone with wine, was a popular college pastime. Excessive use leads to tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal symptoms similar to those of barbiturates. In the United States, the marketing of methaqualone pharmaceutical products stopped in 1984, and methaqualone was transferred to Schedule I of the CSA. In 1991, glutethimide was transferred into Schedule II in response to an upsurge in the prevalence of diversion, abuse, and overdose deaths. Today, there is little medical use of glutethimide in the United States.
Some of that is pure hogwash. We used to pop them like Tic-Tacs in college and the years after, for months on end, and when supplies inevitably ran out I had no withdrawal symptoms at all. I mean none. Tolerance however was an issue, and about once a month I'd stop taking them for a few days to allow my system to reset. It was never a problem, and I never had to increase my dosages as long as I took these periodic breaks.
What drove methaqualone to near extinction were idiots who mixed it with alcohol and wound up overdosing, or killing themselves in car wrecks and other accidents. It has the distinct quality of making you
think you can drive just fine, when you really can't. The other "problem" is that it makes you feel really, REALLY good: extremely euphoric, social, uninhibited and horny as hell. Tactile sensations, including genital and orgasmic sensations are greatly enhanced, unlike alcohol which has the opposite effect when consumed in excess.
Substances on Schedule I are supposed to have no recognized medicinal uses, and to claim methaqualone qualifies for this category is beyond absurd. It's by far the best sleep aid and sedative ever discovered by medical science. It has none of Ambien's sleepwalking or amnesia side-effects, or at least I never experienced any of these side-effects with it. When taken with simple analgesics like aspirin or Tylenol it's very effective against pain, and has none of the constipation and impotence side-effects of opiate medications. But it was a casualty of anti-drug hysteria and abuse, and we've been paying the price for this ban ever since.