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The Paterson native buys his herbs and holy beads at a corner botanica — an alternative medicine pharmacy that sells bottles of “dragon blood” and snake oil, religious statuettes, or natural remedies like honey-based skin cream and herbal tea.
As Latinos settled into New Jersey towns, so did botanicas. Their products — from tiny bottles of snake oil used to treat asthma, to long and thin vials of purified sheep placenta used as hair conditioner — are so popular, particularly among recent immigrants, that even a few traditional neighborhood pharmacies have been stocking the items.
“It’s like the grocery store,” said DelValle of Caridad Botanica on River Street in Paterson. “You’ve got the corner bodega and now you have the corner botanica — it’s become part of the community.”"*
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