Quaaludes and the Wolf of Wall Street

If you’re on social media, you have probably come across a Wolf of Wall Street Quaaludes GIF. You may have also seen different news articles discussing Bill Cosby and his use of Quaaludes. These drugs have certainly had their time in the limelight as of recently.

In his role as Jordan Belfort, Leonardo DiCaprio gives a speech regarding Quaaludes. His famous Wolf of Wall Street Quaaludes quote was as follows:

“The quaalude was first synthesized in 1951 by an Indian doctor — that’s dot Indian, not feathers — as a sedative, and was prescribed to stressed housewives with sleep disorders. Pretty soon someone figured out that if you resisted the urge to sleep for 15 minutes, you got a pretty kick-ass high from it. Didn’t take long for people to start abusing ludes, ‘course, and in 1982 the U.S. Government Schedule One’d them, along with the rest of the world. Which meant there was only a finite amount of these things left. No s—, you can’t even find ‘em anymore today. You people’re all s— outta luck.” 

The Wolf of Wall Street Quaalude explanation is spot on. It speaks to why this drug grew in popularity so quickly. It also alludes to why it’s still so desired today.