Methaqualone misuse: foreign experience and United States drug control policy

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.