Jaborandi (Pilocarpus sp.;) is a shrub or small tree 3-7.5 m tall that can be found in native stands or as isolated individuals throughout Brazil. The leaves of jaborandi contain the alkaloid pilocarpine, widely used in ophthalmology for treatment of certain types of glaucoma and more recently for xerostomia. This paper discusses the current systems of production of jaborandi leaves in Maranhao, Northeastern Brazil. On one side, the extractivism practiced by indigenous people and peasants; on the other, the plantation recently established, as the result of heavy investment by a pharmaceutical company. In the extractive system, the non-sustainable exploitation of the drug-rich leaves of this plant species may have produced considerable damage to the native populations over time, reducing the size of the populations, and impoverishing their gene pools. The following potential effects of the plantation are discussed; contribute to diminishing the pressure on wild populations; impact on the local people currently involved in the extractivism; and its impacts on the local economies.