--- ---  # Why Are Quaaludes the Drugs Bill Cosby Used? ## Video: Bill Cosby Admitted in 2005 to Buying Drugs to Give to Women [Watch (HLS stream): Bill Cosby Admitted in 2005 to Buying Drugs to Give to Women](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VEIkPLsL.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2015-07-06. According to an AP investigation, Bill Cosby testified during a 2005 court case that he had purchased sedatives with the intent to give them to women._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:53 PM UTCPublished: Jul 7, 2015 1:21 PM UTC  Pile of pills Pile of pillsGetty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:53 PM UTCPublished: Jul 7, 2015 1:21 PM UTC Interest in quaaludes, a powerful sedative popular among housewives in the 1960s and disco partiers in the 70s and 80s, has peaked again following revelations about disgraced comedian Bill Cosby’s use of the drug. An _Associated Press_ report revealed that Cosby [admitted to acquiring the drug](http://time.com/3947272/bill-cosby-drugged-women-quaalude-news/) with intentions of giving it to women he planned to have sex with during a deposition in 2005\. Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by over two dozen women. But, just what are quaaludes? Methaqualone or quaaludes— also known as ‘ludes, Lemmons, and 714s—were initially synthesized in India in the 1950s. The pill is part sleeping pill, part sedative that was initially marketed as not being as addictive as barbiturates. By the mid-1960s, the pill was being manufactured in the United States and prescribed to housewives with trouble controlling their nerves and sleeping. But soon another use of the drug was discovered: mix it with alcohol and achieve a “drunken, sleepy high,” according to [_PBS News_](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/faqs/quaaludes.html). Using the drug to reach a euphoric feeling was one thing, but taking too much could lead to “respiratory arrest, delirium, kidney or liver damage, coma, and death.” According to the [_Atlantic_](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/quaalude-nostalgia-a-retro-drug-that-everyone-remembers-fondly/252285/), by the 1970s abuse of the pill caused a panic and in 1973 the previously prescription-only drug had been labeled a Schedule II Controlled Substance. But by then the drug had grown in popularity among big city club goers and fraudulent doctors willing to write quick scripts to folks looking to get a fix. The [_Paris Review_](http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/01/28/free-of-ones-melancholy-self/) describes the appeal thusly: --- > “” --- Even as the Drug Enforcement made attempts to crack down on use and distribution of the drug, the drug was picked up by another manufacturer and was continuously marketed as a sleeping aid. And because people so enjoyed taking it, as noted in the [_Atlantic_](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/quaalude-nostalgia-a-retro-drug-that-everyone-remembers-fondly/252285/) and [_Paris Review_](http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/01/28/free-of-ones-melancholy-self/) articles, people kept taking it. Its history, however, isn’t all based in its euphoric effects. Film director [Roman Polanski](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/roman-polanski-rape-victim-unveils-591015) was accused of drugging a 13-year-old girl with quaaludes before sexually assaulting her. [Playboy bunnies](http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/01/28/free-of-ones-melancholy-self/) recall using the pill during risky sexual encounters. The 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street gruesomely depicts the destruction a [‘lude induced bender](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/wolf-of-wall-street-quaaludes-scene%5Fn%5F4450239.html) inflicted on Jordan Belfort’s car, neighborhood, and life. And continuous episodes of bad press and abuse led manufacturers to cease producing the pill in the mid-1980s. Now, as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Belfort laments in the Martin Scorsese film, it’s nearly impossible to get prescription grade versions of the pill in 2015. And now, the drug will be further associated with risky activity. Under oath, Bill Cosby was asked, “When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?” “Yes,” Cosby said. Cosby is [currently charged](http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-accuser-not-testify-before-trial) with three counts of aggravated assault for sexually assaulting and drugging Andrea Constand in January 2004\. Sexual assault allegations against Cosby have been made public for some time, and dozens of women went public in the last year with accusations that span decades. In July,[ _New York Magazine_ ran a cover story](http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html) with interviews from 35 of Cosby’s alleged victims. The public response has been swift this time. Cosby’s honorary degrees [have been revoked](http://time.com/4387642/university-connecticut-bill-cosby-degree/) from over ten universities including University of Connecticut, New York University, George Washington University, Brown University and more. ### Bill Cosby’s Public Life in Photos  Bill Cosby performs on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. CBS/Getty Images  A portrait of Bill Cosby taken in 1965. Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Bill Cosby poses with his Emmy for his role in I Spy at the Primetime Emmy Awards in New York City in 1966. AP  A portrait of Bill Cosby taken in 1969. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bill Cosby performs on The Second Bill Cosby Special in 1969. Fred Sabine—NBC/Getty Images  Bill Cosby attends the "Concert at Town Hall" at Town Hall in New York City in 1971. Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images  Bill Cosby as Chet Kincaid on The Bill Cosby Show. NBC/Getty Images  Bill Cosby as Dr. Heathcliff 'Cliff' Huxtable in The Cosby Show. Frank Carroll—NBC/Getty Images  Bill Cosby is interviewed by Jay Leno on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 1992. Wendy Perl—NBC/Getty Images  Bill Cosby speaks to an audience on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia in 2006, in Washington D.C. LAWRENCE JACKSON—AP  Host Bill Cosby speaks onstage at the 2011 Jackie Robinson Foundation awards gala atThe Waldorf Astoria in 2011 in New York City. Stephen Lovekin—Getty Images  Bill Cosby attends the 2011 Temple University Commencement at the Liacouras Center in 2011 in Philadelphia, Pa. Gilbert Carrasquillo—Getty Images  Bill Cosby attends the 2014 American Comedy Awards at Hammerstein Ballroom on April 26, 2014 in New York City. 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