Medicine is an essential need for many people to treat their illness. Creating awareness among general public regarding medicines use and common illnesses can promote healthy lifestyles among them. The objectives of this study are to determine public knowledge and perception of medicines use and; to explore the pattern of medicines used in the past 3 months. A cross‐sectional survey was carried out among the general public in Pulau Pinang. People who were using medications during the time of the survey or in the last 3 months were invited to participate in the study. Only Malaysians ≥18 years were selected by convenient sampling to participate in the survey. The results of this study showed that most of the respondents were using some sort of medications during the last 3 months. Around 30% did not read the label of the medicines before use. Furthermore, participants had low awareness towards some aspects of medicines use such as the name of generic and brand medicines, overuse of paracetamol or vitamins and their side effects, discontinuation of antibiotics, storing ointments and syrups in refrigerator, and the side effects of medicines registered in Malaysia. Efforts are still needed to increase the awareness of medicines use among the general public. More quantitative studies are needed to understand the factors that may influence public knowledge and perceptions on the use of medicines.