In all the contemporary discussion on drug misuse little attention has been paid to the use and abuse of minor analgesics. Over the past 30 years there has been a huge increase in the consumption of aspirin, phenacetin and codeine throughout the world, but only recently have clinicians fully awakened to the extent of the pathology which results from analgesic abuse. Analgesic-induced renal disease was first described in Switzerland in 1953 and for several years was thought to be confined to that country. However, increasing numbers of cases were reported from other countries throughout the 1960s, and eventually it was established that analgesic nephropathy was common in Britain (reviewed by Murray, 1974). Phenacetin was widely blamed for the nephrotoxicity, since it was the common constituent of nearly all the mixtures held to cause kidney damage, and consequently as from September 1974 phenacetin became available only on a doctor's prescription in Britain. The excessive ingestion of other common analgesics is not without risk. Paracetamol in overdosage may result in profound liver damage, while it is well known that aspirin may cause anaemia, gastro-intestinal haemorrhage and peptic ulceration.