Personalities and attitudes of nonmedical users of methaqualone.

Abstract

The behavioral characteristics and drug-related attitudes of 66 methaqualone users in the Columbus, Ohio, area were determined on the basis of their responses to a questionnaire. Sixty percent reported at least weekly use of this drug. The mean duration of drug usage was one year, with an average daily dose of 724 mg. The self-description of the respondents on 17 behavioral descriptors was generally positive; neither the frequency nor the duration of methaqualone use was associated with differences in the derived multiitem scales of introversion, extroversion, or depression. Many aspects of methaqualone usage suggest that it is a sociable activity. In general, while expressing some doubts about the safety of methaqualone, the respondents did not believe that this drug's nonmedical use constituted a great health hazard. When compared with a sample of 279 nonmethaqualone-using university students, the respondents reported significantly greater involvement with other psychoactive drugs, even prior to their use of methaqualone. The persons in this study were definitely a drug-oriented, multidrug group, with only 6% reporting the use of no other drugs when not taking methaqualone.