"The use of traditional medicine in the NWT is shrouded in mystery," says Vicki Lafferty, project co-ordinator for the territorial Department of Health and Social Services.

With the move to a more holistic approach in the modern, conventional health care over the last decade, the issue has assumed a new significance.

Some 3.3 million Canadians are turning to herbal medicines. Of those, about 10 per cent rely exclusively on herbal remedies, according to a Health Canada report.

Over the last five years, the federal government has received an increasing number of complaints about the quality of herbal medicine.

In response to the those complaints, Health Canada's health protection branch has come up with a new regulatory regime to clean up the anarchy in the industry.

The regulations come into forced on Jan. 1, 1998.

According to federal officials, the regulations are directed at manufacturers and exporters of herbal products.

Typical consumer complaints range from wood particles found in capsules to piece of insects found in medications.

One such complaint led to an investigation by the health protection branch that found larvae of the confused flower beetle in a preparation.

Still, drug inspector Elaine Radulski of the Northern Alberta district office of Health Canada says the general public has done an about-face over the last five years over the modern health-care system. They are increasingly avoiding conventional pharmaceuticals in favor of more holistic therapies -- what she calls "traditional forms of medicine."

Asked if the new regulations will be problem for aboriginal communities, Lafferty says, "I don't see it as a major issue, but it could be intrusive."

But according to Radulski, there is little to worry about. "We are not regulating bulk herbs," she says. "What we are regulating is the import or export of products.... There will be absolutely no restrictions to traditional medicine or healing."

Still, Joanne Barnaby, executive director of the Dene Cultural Institute in Hay River, says she finds the regulation of herbal remedies "really frustrating."

"The irony of the whole situation is often modern remedies are derived from traditional knowledge," Barnaby says.

And, she adds, "the process of regulation relies on a scientific method that does not provide for a forum on traditional knowledge."

Barnaby says she believes legislation of this nature will disempower traditional healers.

And she says she would have like to see the federal government ask questions and would like Dene leaders to "have an opportunity to express their opinions on the effects of the regulations."

Then there's the cross-border problem. "We do have traditional American healers that we invited here to participate with us. They may try to bring their plants across the border and not be able to get it across," Barnaby says.

Health Canada says this concern is a matter for the Department of Agriculture because it involves soil rather than plants.

John Biggs of Optimum Health, a Edmonton naturopathic store, says the differing opinions on the issue are typical. "They are very inconsistent with the legislation," he says.

"If the Indians there are saying that they could be affected and the feds are saying they aren't, I would suggest they get the federal government to put it in writing."

Which is what Barnaby wants as well. She says she'd like the government to specifically exclude aboriginal communities from the legislation.

The legislation was set to take effect July 1, but a spokesperson for Health Canada says the regulations were delayed until January 1998 because of the recent federal election. A new health minister was appointed only weeks before the legislation was set to begin.

Chris Booke, a pharmacist with Valupharm in Iqaluit, says choices regarding herbal medicines should be made in the doctors office.

Booke says he believes that educating oneself is the most important aspect of the alternative health care system. Fifty per cent of his stock at the store is composed of herbal and vitamin medicines.

Darryl Donnly, owner and pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart in Yellowknife, however, says he likes to give his customers a choice.

"When customers come to our store, I'll ask them whether they want traditional or non-traditional options," he says.

The herbal remedies stock available at his store will soon surpass 40 per cent of his over-the-counter medication.

Donnly says he's not concerned with the customers he gets in the store who "self medicate" -- in fact he finds people surprisingly well educated.

But Larry Ring, pharmacist and owner of Wally's Drugs in Fort Smith and Hay River and president of the NWT Pharmacists Association, isn't as comfortable when it comes to providing an alternative to modern pharmaceuticals.

"We would be crossing the line between the doctor and the patient" to interfere with a prescription, he says.

Asked whether or not he felt comfortable having herbal medicines on his shelves, Ring says, "I do -- I make it perfectly clear to the patient that there is not a lot of information available."