By 1965, it was the most commonly prescribed sedative in Britain, where it has been sold legally under the names Malsed, Malsedin, and Renoval. Methaqualone was first synthesized in India in 1951 by Indra Kishore Kacker and Syed Husain Zaheer, who were conducting research on finding new antimalarial medications. Regular users build up a physical tolerance, requiring larger doses for the same effect. Oral dosage forms of methaqualone hydrochloride were manufactured as capsules, whereas oral dosage forms of methaqualone free-base were manufactured as tablets. While the salt methaqualone hydrochloride is typically used clinically, methaqualone free-base was also marketed, namely as the methaqualone component of Mandrax, a combination drug which contained 250 mg methaqualone and 25 mg diphenhydramine within the same tablet. Methaqualone peaks in the bloodstream within several hours, with a half-life of 20–60 hours. A dose of 8000 mg is lethal and a dose as little as 200 mg could induce a coma if taken with an alcoholic beverage. The standard single tablet adult dose of Quaalude brand of methaqualone was 300 mg when made by Lemmon. It resembles barbiturate poisoning, but with increased motor difficulties and a lower incidence of cardiac or respiratory depression. Īdditional effects are delirium, convulsions, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, vomiting, kidney failure, coma, and death through cardiac or respiratory arrest. Overdose Īn overdose can lead to nervous system shutdown, coma and death. Methaqualone was not recommended for use while pregnant and is in pregnancy category D. These properties explain why methaqualone was originally mainly prescribed for insomnia. When GABA activity is increased, blood pressure drops and breathing and pulse rates slow, leading to a state of deep relaxation.
Methaqualone is a sedative that increases the activity of the GABA receptors in the brain and nervous system, similarly to benzodiazepines and barbiturates.
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The substance was sold both as a free base and as salt (hydrochloride). Methaqualone became increasingly popular as a recreational drug and club drug in the late 1960s and 1970s, known variously as "ludes" or "disco biscuits" due to its widespread use during the popularity of disco in the 1970s, or "sopers" (also "soaps") in the United States and Canada, and "mandrakes" and "mandies" in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Its use peaked in the early 1970s for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant.
In 1962, methaqualone was patented in the United States by Wallace and Tiernan. The sedative–hypnotic activity of methaqualone was first noted in 1955. It is a member of the quinazolinone class. Commercial production of methaqualone was halted in the mid-1980s due to widespread abuse and addictiveness. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( / ˈ k w eɪ l uː d/ KWAY-lood) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg methaqualone and 25 mg diphenhydramine within the same tablet, mostly in Europe. Methaqualone is a sedative and hypnotic medication.