Analysis of the potential usage of medicinal plants in Rural America- The
Clearwater County Example.

Received 11/14/02

Abstract
Roughly 80 percent of the developing world depends on traditional medicine
(3,10,12,15). Traditional medicine typically relies heavily on medicinal plants
as its primary source of health care (18). Although traditional medicine has
been meeting the health needs of those in developing countries for centuries,
international health organizations are just beginning to investigate ways to
include traditional medicine along with medicinal plants in their programs
(1,25). It has been discovered that most international organizations are unable
to keep their goal of providing basic health care to people in rural or
economically deprived urban areas (9). This is mainly due to the growing expense
of drugs (9,10). Thus, implementing a program that utilizes the more cost
effective raw plant materials found in traditional medicine is key, as it is
readily available and requires less preparation. This paper examines the
possibility of such a program working in rural America by using Clearwater County
in Minnesota as an example. This will include a discussion of the benefits,
obstacles and actual structure of such a program.