Quaaludes ?....QUAALUDES ??
Where did you dig them up from ?
There's been (effectively) no Quaaludes in the United States since Ronald Reagan banned them completely in 1984.
You would have a very difficult time trying to get your hands on any
I think the last time I heard Quaaludes ( "Ludes") mentioned was in an early-1970s American Blaxsploitation movie, and I think the movie was "Shaft". The movie had an amazing Theme Song that was a big US hit...
THEME SONG FROM "SHAFT"
Who's the black private dick
That's a sex machine to all the chicks - Shaft !
You're damn right
Who is the man that who would die for his brother, man - Shaft !
Can you dig it ?
Who's the cat that wont cop out when there's danger all about? - Shaft !
Right on
You see that cat Shaft is a bad mother - Shut your mouth !
But I'm talkin' about Shaft - Then we can dig it !
He a complicated man but no one understands him but his woman - John Shaft !
Now that's Quaalude music !
I used to work as a pharmacist and I've always been very interested by recreational (psychoactive) drugs that become a core component of youth culture movements in music/dance. Quaaludes were one example, especially in America. Before they were banned in 1984 they had the nick-name "Disco - Biscuits." Disco music was mostly a 1970's phenomenon in the US. Remember the disco musical "Saturday Night Fever" (starring a young John Travolta) released in 1978 (I think?). So, getting back to Quaaludes, lots of people getting to go dancing at a discotheque on a Saturday night would include swallowing a 300 mg dose of Quaalude half an hour before they set off as an essential part of their preparation. I knew that but I could never understand it because Quaaludes were prescribed by doctors as sedatives and hypnotics (a hypnotic in medical parlance just means a sleeping pill).I'm trying to think of an American sleeping tablet that you'll be familiar with....how about "Ambien" (?) or "Restoril" (?), you must have heard of them ? So, when you go to your Doctor and say: "Dr Biden, can you please help me, I have terrible insomnia. I haven't slept now for 3 nights. I'm totally exhausted and my nerves are on edge and I'm losing my temper with the kids and I -I ... (sob)...I just can't ....(sob)...cope any more! - (sob-sob-sob). The doctor goes through their usual line of questions to see if he can't identify something that might be causing your insomnia but there doesn't seem to be anything obvious so he books you in for a blood test and urine test etc. In the mean time, because you are clearly very distressed he writes you a script for "Ambien" tablets. He says to you before you take the "Abien" tablet lie down or sit down somewhere quiet and peaceful, where there are no distraction and just allow yourself to relax physically and mentally as much as possible for 20 to 30 minutes. Then take your "Ambien" tablet with half a glass of water and slip into your bed. Make sure there are no bright lights in your bedroom or radios or televisions playing nearby. Soon you you will start to feel as little drowsy as the "Ambien" starts to work. Then a little more drowsy - just stay relaxed and allow yourself to drift off closer and closer to sleep.And hopefully, you should be sound asleep in about 25 minutes.
OK, that makes sense, right ? That's what any family doctor should tell you when s/he prescribes a drug like "Ambien" or "Restoril" for a patient with insomnia.
And that is basically what "Quaaludes" were designed for. They were primarily developed as a hypnotic drug (a "sleeping pill"), and when they were used as a sleeping tablet, they were given in doses of at least 300mg. Sometimes, however, smaller doses of Quaalude like 150 mg or 75 mg were prescribed as sedatives (like the tranquillizer called "Valium" is) to calm down patients who are experiencing a lot of stress or anxiety, etc in their lives for some reason (problems at work, financial worries, marital trouble, and so on).
So, how come America was awash with Quaaludes in the 1970s and countless thousands of peoples were taking them so that they could put on their "Boogie Shoes" and "Shake their Booties all night night long on the dance floor of their local Discotheques. How come they were dropping Quaaludes in a place where there are birght coloured lights everywhere, large crowds of sweaty people writhing to 100 decibel dance music from bands playing Funk grooves and heavy syncopated bass rhythms that actually MAKE your body want move - whether or not that's what you want to do. The Funk has a visceral impact on you and pulls you up onto the dance floor.
So if Quaaludes are hypnotic/sedative drugs like "Ambien" that make you feel sedated and increasingly drowsy after you take them, that's not really an ideal type of "party drug" for the entire Disco dance culture of America in the 1970's to be taking is it? And it seems odd that in the era of Disco in the 70's you could openly buy Quaaludes outside Discotheques at dirt-cheap, "ten - a -penny" prices ?
The explanation is as follows. Remember I described how if you are taking a sleeping tablet like "Ambien" you need to be in a calm , peaceful environment, and after you take the tablet as you feel it steadily making you drowsy, then drowsier, you don't fight the drug, you relax mentally and stay passive - in other words, YOU "GIVE IN" TO THE DRUG you don't struggle against it, you don't fight it. Let surrender and let it put you to sleep. If you fight to drug, if you are determined to use your will-power NOT to let it put you to sleep, the chances are that you will win. The "Ambien" will not be able to put you to sleep because you have put up too much stubborn resistance.
What happened with Quaaludes is that people discovered that when they fought against the initial sedative/hypnotic effects of the drug, that is when they mentally resisted its drowsy effect for 15 to 20 minutes they "broke through" to a completely different state of mind . And countless individuals who did this with the doses of Quaalude that they took testified that they were led into a state of EUPHORIA. Euphoria is a state where you literally cannot imagine how anything could feel better than what you are currently experiencing. All of your care, all of your worries, all of the problem in your life are wiped out - annihilated - totally GONE. As well as this, fighting the sedative/drowsy effects of Quaaludes and "breaking through the barrier" (after 20 minutes or so of resisting them) has the effect of: decreasing inhibition, so that you are more comfortable about "letting it all hang out"; raising libido (sex drive) so that you feel more sexually aroused ("horney") and the experience of having physical sex itself become more pleasurable (you get "more buck for your bang" so to speak), also it enhances the please of drinking alcohol, so that where one glass of champagne might provide you with 5 units of pleasure, now the same glass of champagne delivers 8 units of pleasure. Finally Quaaludes have a relaxing and "loosening effect on the body and commonly induce paresthesiae ("tingling" sensations in the extremities) all effects which could enhance the experience of Disco dancing.
So, that's why Quaaludes were everywhere in America in the 1970's - the Disco dancing subculture (which eventually went mainstream with "Saturday Night Fever" in 1977, and, dare I add, "Boogie Nights" ? supplied the demand for the drug and kept the street prices low. All you had to do was take a 300 mg or 600 mg dose of Quaalude on Saturday night, fight of the sedative/sleeping inducing effects of the drug for 20 - 25 minutes and then you break through to a mental state of euphoria. When you go into the Discotheque that night, you're feeling not only euphoric, but also "horny" ( ready, willing and able to fuck any "stray cats" you can catch), uninhibited, itching to totally "let go" and be a "maniac, maniac on the floor" to top it off, physically, you're relaxed and "loose as a goose", your fingers and toes may be tingling as well . You your ready to freak out all night long doing "The Funky Chicken", "The Discofox, "The New York Shuffle", "The Bump", The Quaalude Slide" (?)
There another fascinating example of a recreational drug that triggered a massive youth culture music/dance explosion. I remember it because I was there. It was the UK in 1988 when the British discovered by chance that the drug MDMA ( or Ecstacy, a mixed hallucinogenic/psychostimulant) produced changes of consciousness (mental state) that acted synergistically with the the rapid uptempo beat and psychedelic base line in a derivative of Chicago House Music that was called "Acid House".
It all started, suddenly in 1988 and , trust me, it totally rocked the UK. it was a "nuclear explosion" of a youth cultural, music-dance movement. The "Acid House" dance parties were called "raves", and the "Smiley Face" emoji became an emblem of the movement.
Dachshund