As Americans, many of us live in a bubble. Especially now, as US politics are reaching a boiling point, it can be difficult to remember that we aren’t exposed to many of the things that other countries are. While this spans many different facets of culture, life, and politics, it also extends to the culture of drug use. Many drugs, the likes of which a great deal of us have never even heard of, are decimating entire continents abroad. One such drug is Mandrax, better known in the US as Quaalude, is just such a drug. While it went off the market in the 80’s in America, it’s still an extremely destructive force in many other countries.
Quaalude was first synthesized in the early 50’s as a sleep aid. It caught on, and quickly became a staple in the treatment of sleep disorders like insomnia. However, just as quickly as it caught on, people realized there was more to Quaaludes than meets the eye. The drug was extremely addictive, and that was just the beginning. The drug caused seizures, epilepsy, coma, and an overdose could easily result in death. On top of that, it was easy to find prescriptions for the drug. Before too long, the drug was off the market, and the sale of it was banned by the late 80’s. However, this didn’t stop other countries from continuing to abuse the drug.
Around this same time, South Africa was under apartheid, and was experimenting with weapons programs. One program, named Project Coast, was responsible for overseeing and developing biochemical weapons for the purpose of crowd control. One substance they used as a jumping off point for such development was Quaalude. As apartheid ended, the government collapsed many of these programs. However, the drugs didn’t just vanish. They disappeared, and resurfaced on the black market.
Since then, Quaaludes, better known as Mandrax in Africa, has spread like wildfire. Now, the drug is competing with cocaine as one of the most common drugs on the continent. It’s easy to manufacture, and the amount of stock leftover from Project Coast has provided drug dealers with a surplus of the drug to sell off. Every day, more and more cases of Mandrax addiction arise, and the problem is only getting worse. We need to be aware of these drugs, as not much is separating us from Mandrax and the problems faced by those in Africa. With more awareness of this drug, the more we can do to prevent addiction in the future.
