Spike has a new, totally original show that is essentially 'Cops' for the Drug Enforcement Agency and it has the totally original name 'DEA'. “Television viewers will get the same unprecedented access to the inner workings of the DEA as our camera crews – the raids, the risk and the danger,” said Al Roker, executive producer (Al Roker??!! He's so effing hardcore). “When you watch ‘DEA,’ you will feel like you have gone undercover.” This......

One year ago, Los Angeles County received the distinction of being number one in the nation for the amount of medical marijuana dispensaries in the country, with close to 50 in operation. Recently, picking up your prescribed pot got theoretically easier with the launching of the world's first marijuana vending machines here in the City of Angels, which is causing international waves from objectors who cast doubt on the therapeutic validity of the Schedule 1......

Slide your money in the slot, press the right alphanumeric combo, and down drops a treat for you to reach in and grab. That's vending machine magic in a nutshell. But LA's got some new vending machines that are raising some eyebrows, and possibly violating some international treaties. They are the newly installed marijuana vending machines that are operating out of at least three of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, and the International Narcotics Control......

Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LA Times has the latest and more details on the deadly stand-off in the Valley that left one SWAT team member, Randal Simmons, and four others dead. Okay, this is just terribly, terribly, terribly wrong: why is the city cracking down so hard on street vendors who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs? Police continue to search for three kidnappers who abducted......

On Sunday, 60 Minutes updated their story from September on California Proposition 215 and Medical Marijuana in a 12-minute news report, saying the law became victim to the the law of unintended consequences.For one thing, the federal government still views marijuana, medical or otherwise, as illegal and has been cracking down on dispensaries that sell it. For another, it's clear there are legions of people buying medical marijuana for the sole purpose of getting high.......

Consolation Prize of a Lifetime - Al Gore is a man of peace and gets the homepage of Apple.com all to himself -- should we expect the iAl to come out by the holidays? The Catalina Island Avalon city employee who beheaded a deer and left it in a soccer net is definitely not getting any peace prize. There was another suspicious package today left around City Hall, forcing street closures and the evacuation......

Feeling lucky punk? Well, are ya? LAist hopes you are: Win a pair of VIP passes to LA Weekly's Detour Festival on October 6 and a pair of tickets for The Crystal Method at The Roxy next Tuesday. Good luck! Prosecutors plan to refile charges against Phil Spector. Jeez, what's a murderer brutha gotta do to walk free? Britney Spears "dined" at Acapulco in Burbank last night and the paparazzo’s freaked. It's like they'd......

There was a "'Funeral for State's Rights" at the Van Nuys courthouse yesterday. There has been lots of activity on the medical marijuana front of late, with the DEA busting legal dispensaries, seizing their assets and taking their medicine. I went to hear what the phriendly people adorned with pot leaves had to say, and to document the rally the best way i know how to: with a camera.......

James Marshall isn't dropping the name DALEK, he says, "This just didn't feel like a DALEK kinda thing." Whatever kinda thing it is, LAist thinks it's awesome. We stopped by earlier today at the Merry Karnowski Gallery, where he will be exhibiting between August 4th through September 1st. Marshall told us that he does not have immediate plans for any new gallery showings, so come out while you can. When Marshall isn't painting he......

Despite our weekend report that the California Patients Group was doing all that it could to stay open, and continue to aid the sick and the needy with care and medical cannibis, they will be closing their doors. Here is a portion of an email sent out today from Coordinator Don Duncan: I am sad to report that we have decided to close CPG as a result of the economic and legal hardship resulting......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

In the face of DEA raids, and LAPD cooperation with the feds, the California Patients Group (one of the 10 raided dispensaries) released this statement to it's patients: The campaign to defend safe access to medical cannabis is a risky one, and we have always known we could face the wrath of our federal government for taking a principled stand for people suffering from AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other serious illnesses. Yesterday [July......

Don Duncan of the California Patients Group in Hollywood talks to reporters through the door broken by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) As the Los Angeles City Council placed a moratorium on new facilities so rules could be drafted to better regulate them, federal agents raided 10 local medical marijuana facilities on Wednesday [LA Times]. What follows are pictures from the raid at the California Patients Group in Hollywood.......

Today the DEA raided 10 marijuana dispensaries, made five arrests, and seized large quantities of marijuana and cash. All of this taking place the same day the Los Angeles City Council whipped out an ordinance calling for the federal government to stop singling out marujuana clinics that are legal under state law. The government is here to serve us, and to protect us, just like it reads on many cop cars. So when the......

- The founder of Reason magazine wrote a column in today's LA Times entitled "Let them have their pot" about the feds cockblocking weed from sick people - LAT - The cost of getting a California medical marijuana ID card is going up almost 1,000% because not enough people are getting California medical marijuana ID cards. Which is interesting because we thought that marijuana dispensaries in LA were booming. So wtf? - Bay Area......

Artwork by A. Nagler.......

With all this national attention surrounding the recent DEA raids on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, LAist found it the perfect time to get the news from the horse's mouth, so we sat down with a Medical Marijuana card-holder who has visited some of the shops that the DEA shut down. Hopefully we can answer some of the questions surrounding the rumors, the hype, and the DEA: How does a person get a Medical Marijuana card? How......

In the wake of yesterday's LA raids by the DEA, about 100 protesters marched in front of the West Hollywood City Hall this morning. Clearly the state of medical marijuana in America has become the line in the sand between state's rights and the power of federal law. Yesterday the feds flexed their muscle: They confiscated several thousand pounds of processed marijuana, along with weapons and money. A spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration......

Five Santa Monica Blvd. medical marijuana dispensaries were raided by the feds today, pretty much harshing the mellow of the WeHo city council. "The state of California voted to allow marijuana for medical purposes," says West Hollywood City Councilmember Abbe Land. "The City of West Hollywood along with other cities across the state have established regulations to govern the dispensing of medical marijuana, so that people whose lives depend on this drug can be......

In Los Angeles, Even Ice Cream Is Trendy (Day to Day, NPR) Teams Track Fugitive Immigrants for Deportation (All Things Considered, NPR) DEA agents rescue undercover cop (Daily News) Aniston settles lawsuit over topless photos (CNN) DeGeneres walks away from car crash (CNN) Los Angeles Times Downplays Arrest of Iraq's Al-Qaeda No. 2 (NewsBusters) The Jury Is Still Out On Sex Offender Trading Cards (The Defiant Salmon) Innovative Bar Coasters Announce Relationship Status (Hello......