Community chemists and pharmacy staff have been singled out in recent research as a key influence on patients' decisions to self-medicate and try new medications. Studies have pointed to community chemists and other pharmacy staff as conduits for promoting self-medication and facilitating medicine experimentation. In this work, we examine the setting in which chemists and pharmacy assistants in Jharkhand, India, ''prescribe drugs'' to the general people. To illustrate the reciprocal nature of the interactions between drugstore owners, medicines distributors, and pharmaceutical sales agents (medical representatives), an ethnographic account of pharmacies & pharmaceutical-related behaviour in Jharkhand is offered. The influence of the pharmaceutical industry's marketing, distribution, and sales infrastructure on patient adherence to prescribed treatment, "counterpushing," and self-medication is discussed. It is argued that advocates of "rational drug use" would benefit from a more thorough examination of the financial gain and the reciprocal relationships that currently exist between physicians, medical representatives, medicine wholesalers, and retailers.