Tuinal

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Tuinal is the brand name of a combination drug composed of two barbiturate salts (secobarbital sodium and amobarbital sodium) in equal proportions.

Tuinal was introduced as a sedative medication in the late 1940s by Eli Lilly. It was produced in gelatin capsule form for oral administration. Individual capsules contained 50mg, 100mg, or 200mg of barbiturate salts.

Eli Lilly has discontinued the manufacture of Tuinal in the United States due to the diminishing use of barbiturates in outpatient treatment. No generic equivalent to this specific barbiturate formulation is currently available.

[edit] Abuse

Tuinal saw widespread use as a recreational drug in the 1960s and 1970s. The pill was known colloquially under the street name "Christmas trees," a reference to the unique color scheme of the capsule. Like other barbiturate depressants, Tuinal promotes physical and psychological dependency and carries a high risk of overdose. Abuse of this particular drug tapered off after it was withdrawn from the market.

Tuinal is classified as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States.

[edit] Trivia

In a scene from the Stephen King novel Pet Sematary, the main character, Dr. Louis Creed, swallows a Tuinal to calm himself down. Creed then recalls a friend from medical school with a particular fondness for Tuinal, which the friend dubbed "the Toonerville trolley," or "tooners" for short.

In "The Old Main Drag", a song from The Pogues' 1985 album Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, the drug is name-checked: If you didn't have the money, you'd cajole and you'd beg / There was always lots of tuinal on the old main drag.