The Low-Down On Sopors

Sopors, the drug for the young who think down, are the latest entry into the illicit pill sweepstakes. The name is both a specific brand of down, and a vague catchall used to describe Quaalude, Pararest and Optamil as well. Sopors have been on the legit market for about three years, on the illicit street market for almost as long; what is known about the genre the term represents is often matched by what isn’t.

The Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR — it’s the bible of pharmacology for the medical profession and pill pushers alike) will confirm that sopors are a sedative and mild hypnotic agent, unrelated to most other sedative hypnotics. To a large extent, the clinical significance of the sopor (short for soporific, by the way) family’s differences from barbituates or glutethimide (the other common sedative hypnotics) has not been clearly demonstrated. The official function is to produce sleep or daytime sedation both of which, Quaalude kids can attest, they do well with or without prescription.