This report focuses primarily on the three parties involved in a prescription: the Prescriber, the Pharmacist and the Patient; and brings together perspectives from service providers and service users aswell as official statistical sources. This document contains disquieting evidence of the misuse of minor tranquillisers and sedatives and of poor prescribing patterns. However, it is important to note that many GPs do adhere to the Good Practice Prescribing Guidelines for Clinicians, issued in 2002. This report also makes important observations in relation to the monitoring systems currently in place.