Methaqualone Misuse: Foreign Experience and United States Drug Control Policy

Abstract

In 1972 methaqualone emerged as a major drug of nonmedical use in the United States—a subject of widespread publicity and public concern. In late 1973, government officials responded by taking the unprecedented measure of imposing the strictest controls available under United States law on a drug which had previously been subject only to a simple prescription requirement. Methaqualone had a similar history in other countries, particularly in Germany, Japan, and Great Britain. However, this history was ignored by United States officials until nonmedical methaqualone use had become a substantial problem in the United States.