MANDRAX was the trade name of a barbiturate type sedative drug called methaqualone which was commonly prescribed as a sleeping pill by doctors in the 1960s and 1970s. In the USA it was know as quaaludes or ludes. It was also used as a street drug. Both medical and non-medical use led to many fatal overdoses and the drug was withdrawn in the 1980s. However, it is still manufactured in the Third World, especially India and is a street drug in some countries of Africa and other areas.