On the importance of interdisciplinarity

As the problem of drugs is a problem with different components, the diversity of angles of approaches is central to any solution. Preventive education provides a transversal link between the specific phenomena of drug abuse and other global social phenomena. An interdisciplinary approach must be developed because the phenomena encompass a multitude of fields of theory and practice - psychology, psychiatry, medicine, history, ethnology, Sociology, education, law, social and welfare work...

The abuse of drugs is an obstacle to human development and a factor to be taken into consideration in promoting this ideal. To respond adequately to the question of drug abuse, preventive education has, therefore, been assigned a two-fold goal: to forestall the abusive use of drugs and so to promote human development. This being so an interdisciplinary approach is crucial and, given that drugs cross practically all fields of knowledge and affectivity, to consider the problem as a transdisciplinary issue.