| Photo: Jamie Scott Lytle/North County Times |
| Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative founders Brenda Perez and Bob Riedel at the dispensary, which may be featured on an upcoming reality series |
Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative, a medical marijuana dispensary in the San Diego suburb of Fallbrook, may be featured in an upcoming reality TV series about California’s cannabis culture.
Two Los Angeles television producers were in town Wednesday to film interviews at the dispensary for a pilot episode they plan to pitch to Showtime, Bravo, Lifetime and other networks, reports Morgan Cook of the North County Times.
The show, which may be titled “Grass Roots,” will explore California’s burgeoning pot culture, from growers in Northern California to the dispensaries which sell marijuana to patients statewide.
| Photo: Jamie Scott Lytle/North County Times |
| Reel Reality producer Dave Wilson films Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative founder Bob Riedel for a possible reality TV series on California’s pot culture |
The two companies involved, Reel Reality Productions and G-Town Productions, have produced several popular TV shows, including “Blind Date,” “Rock of Love” and several VH-1 reality series, according to the Times.
Mother Earth’s provides marijuana to about a thousand patients with doctors’ recommendations for the herb. The dispensary charges $35 to $50 for an eighth-ounce of cannabis.
Reel Reality producer Dave Wilson said the show had trouble finding dispensaries that would give them access to capture the story behind the scenes. According to Wilson, many operators are concerned that publicity could lead to raids, even if they’re following the law.
“People want to do it, but they’re very limited about what they want us to see,” Wilson said.
The episode will focus on patients, many of whom are suffering from serious or terminal illnesses.
“What happens is that sometimes people will come in and say, ‘I probably won’t see you again next week,'” Mother Earth president and founder Bob Riedel said. “It’s devastating around here.”
“There are people out there doing this for the wrong reason; we get that,” Riedel said. “But the work we do here is really good and it’s for the right reasons.”