Introduction

On the day in November 2002 when Elephant Pharmacy opened, I could hardly contain my excitement. This massive pharmacy in Berkeley, California, was truly original. Elephant was the only store in the industry with two pharmacies under one roof: a prescription pharmacy for Western drugs and an herbal pharmacy for Eastern remedies. And that's not all. You could buy the prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs you'd find at any traditional pharmacy. But you could also buy organic snacks, attend a free yoga class, get a chair massage, browse aisles of natural body care products, peruse a library of wellness books, and even talk to an alternative health practitioner.

Elephant Pharmacy was my latest venture, and it fulfilled my core desire ...

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