I think that our development shows that we have a strong desire to build community. As humans we want to gather socially and exchange ideas or barter or gossip. We create hierarchies of power. So we have always had healers. It used to be that these healers were in touch with nature in some way. Now we have scientists testing the same plants that gave results to the native healers in their laboratories, extracting and ultimately synthesizing what they think of as the active components.  In many ways they are right, and in just as many others, they are wrong. Yes, they can get a patent on the synthetic product where the plants grow in the wild, and it’s harder to control the production.  Costs of drugs might fluctuate for any number of reasons as might quality.

The worst failure in this process is how it removes the patent from the organic flow of the earth.  Ancillary compounds may not be included in the synthetic versions.  This may mean that some drugs are harsher on the body than they need to be. This would apply if some of the other compounds act as buffers. Other components of the plant may enhance or target a main compound. With today’s medical standards in the United States, organic medicines are not covered by insurance.