- INTELLIGENCE BRIEF -
- QUAALUDE LEMMON 714 MIMIC TABLETS (CONTAINING DIAZEPAM) -
- SURPRISING PERSISTENCE -[SIZE=-1]The recent reports of Quaalude mimic tablets (containing diazepam) in Lexington Park, Maryland (Microgram Bulletin 2006;39(8):99; see Photo 6) and on the U.S./Canadian border near Oroville, Washington (Microgram Bulletin 2006;39(9):115; no photo) mark the latest two submissions in a now 25 year history of such tablets. Manufacture of authentic (pharmaceutical) Quaalude Lemmon 714 tablets (containing methaqualone) was discontinued by Lemmon Pharmaceuticals on November 15th, 1983; however, Quaalude counterfeit, mimic, and fake tablets had been in common circulation since the mid-1970s. [“Counterfeits” contained methaqualone, “mimics” contained one or more of a variety of controlled substances (not including methaqualone), and “fakes” contained no controlled substances.] The licit and illicit Quaaludes submitted to forensic laboratories between about 1975 and 1980 were primarily Rorer 714s, but the William H. Rorer Company sold the Quaalude rights to Lemmon Pharmaceuticals in 1979, and by mid-1980 most Quaaludes (both licit and illicit) were Lemmon 714s. Amazingly, illicit Lemmon 714s were being seized on the streets before the licit product was available at pharmacies. This reflected the enormous extent of Quaalude abuse, which rivaled marijuana abuse in 1980 and 1981, and in fact the Lemmon 714 tablet is by far the most illicitly replicated pharmaceutical product in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration, with at one time over 250 different exemplars in the Reference Collection at the DEA Special Testing and Research Laboratory.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Extensive efforts by the DEA Office of Diversion Control in the late 1970s and early 1980s led to increasingly restrictive international controls on methaqualone and its precursors, and methaqualone was transferred to Schedule I of the U.S. Controlled Substances Act in 1984. As stocks of methaqualone dried up worldwide, clandestine manufacturers quickly settled on diazepam as the controlled substance of choice for Lemmon 714 mimics, and virtually all such tablets submitted to forensic laboratories since 1990 were determined to contain only diazepam. Initial variability in tablet compositions was a serious concern - some of the early mimics contained as much as 300 milligrams of diazepam, and overdoses and deaths from combining these Quaaludes mimics and alcohol were a major problem in some areas (quite notably in Atlanta, Georgia).[/SIZE]
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[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Currently, it is believed that Lemmon 714 mimics are still being sporadically produced, probably outside the United States. However, it is also thought that many of the Lemmon 714 mimics being seized by law enforcement authorities may actually be from 20 - 25 year old stashes (that is, recovered by previously incarcerated Quaalude traffickers upon their releases from prison). Oddly, despite ample published information to the contrary, most of the “testimonials” concerning Quaaludes (that is, Lemmon 714 tablets) on the various drug-abuse websites make it clear that the users still believe that they are ingesting genuine Quaaludes (which is quite unlikely). The last report in Microgram of authentic or counterfeit Quaaludes was in 1981, and the last submissions of such tablets to the DEA Special Testing and Research Laboratory were in 1985. Diazepam is currently classified as Schedule IV.[/SIZE]
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[/SIZE]See AlsoThe rise and fall of QuaaludesThe long and troubled history of Quaaludes, the sedative Bill Cosby admitted giving to women9.78% Dividend Yield! I'm Buying This Canadian Stock and Holding it for DecadesMethaqualone | Canada Commons[SIZE=-1]The following list are all the citations in Microgram or Microgram Bulletin of Quaalude Lemmon 714 mimic tablets containing diazepam or (less commonly) a mixture of diazepam and another controlled substance.* Not included are approximately another dozen citations of “Quaaludes containing diazepam” that did not contain logo information or photos.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]1980;13(2):16 - Philadelphia Police Department Crime Laboratory
1980;13(4):50 - New Jersey State Police North Regional Laboratory (Little Falls)
1980;13(6):102 - DEA Southeast Laboratory (Miami)
1980;13(7):113 - DEA South Central Laboratory (Dallas)
1980;13(6):124 - DEA Southeast Laboratory (Miami)
1980;13(6):161 - Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Laboratory (Cape Girardeau)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]1981;14(2):10 - Philadelphia Police Department Crime Laboratory
1981;14(4):37 - Regional Forensic Laboratory (Painesville, Ohio)
1981;14(5):54 - Philadelphia Police Department Crime Laboratory[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]1982;15(10):165 - Metro-Dade Police Department Crime Laboratory (Miami)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1984;17(12):176 - DEA Northeast Laboratory (New York)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1991;24(10):244 - Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Laboratory (Cape Girardeau)
1991;24(12):283 - Aurora Police Department Crime Laboratory (Colorado)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]1992;25(3):42 - San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Forensic Science Laboratory (California)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1993;26(10):221 - Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory (Highland Park)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1995;28(8):235 - Mansfield Police Department Laboratory (Ohio)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1996;29(8):199 - University of Massachusetts Drugs of Abuse Laboratory[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1997;30(2):26 - Regional Crime Laboratory at the Indian River Community College (Florida)
1997;30(6):115 - Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory (Nashville)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]2006;39(8):99 - Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division (Pikesville)
2006;39(9):115 - DEA Western Laboratory (San Francisco)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] * Notes: All issues of Microgram and Microgram Bulletin published prior to January 2003 are Law Enforcement Restricted.[/SIZE]
hxxp://www.justice.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0107/mg0107.htmlMicrogram readers are familiar that diazepam is a adulterant/mimic agent used in many types of counterfeit pills being pressed. Alps, vikes, OCs... you name it and someone will put :chillpill: into the recipe sooner or later.
