Between 1988 and 1992 a new illicit drug experience arrived on the cultural scene in the United States, Canada, South and Central America, and Australia. The media created a frenzy of misinformation in reporting on the latest drug craze which was termed "toad licking". The uses of bufo toad secretions have occurred throughout history in a variety of cultural milieus. These are explored as a backdrop to contemporary drug use/misuse issues. At the interpersonal and social level, media exposure helped create and maintain the use/misuse phenomenon, turning a fairly obscure activity into a potential epidemic.