Methaqualone



Methaqualone is a drug which was widely prescribed as a sedative in the 1960s and 1970s under the brand name "Quaalude".

It became a popular recreational drug, used largely by teenagers, leading to it being pulled from the market and reclassified in the U.S. as of 1984 under Schedule I (wide potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use) along with the likes of heroin and marijuana.

While it is no longer widely encountered in the U.S. it is a popular illegal drug in South Africa where it is called Mandrax and is usually smoked off tin foil.

Ben Stein (of all people) once wrote a novel on the subject.

As a date rape drug
Comedian Bill Cosby has been accused by several women of sexual assault by secretly putting Quaaludes in drinks without their knowledge or convincing them it was medicine (such as a cold pill, for instance) so he could rape them. He has since been acquitted, but more due to a technicality rather than any doubt that he was guilty.