Pharmacology is an exact science that rests on a foundation of chemistry, physics, and physiology. It, however, freely borrows its techniques and methods from other scientific disciplines as they are developed. It could, in this respect, be considered parasitic, but as it also donates information, its relationship to other sciences can be considered symbiotic. Probably more than any other such subject it has pure and applied aspects that cannot be disentangled from each other. Drugs have no reality in the absence of their use by man.

Drugs are necessary, and can be evil. Their indiscriminate and nontherapeutic use is usually to be abhored and avoided, and the real necessity for administering them requires circumspection. When they are appropriately used, however, drugs can extend life and alleviate pain and suffering. Many drugs are today quite freely and legally available to the public, both over the counter (OTC) and by medical prescription. They can, however, also be obtained covertly and illicitly. Their proper use in modern society is not only dependent on properly trained physicians but also on an educated public. It is inexcusable for the medical practitioner to fail in his or her role, but one cannot expect universal pharmacological introspection among the public. Attempts to increase the knowledge of people in drug-related matters are being made with the cooperation of the popular press, the pharmaceutical companies, and private and governmental medical organizations. Maybe this subject should be dubbed “social pharmacology” or “community pharmacology.” Failure to so inform and educate the public needs to be compensated for by protective legal restrictions on the availability of and accessibility to illicit sources of drugs.