Here's the tally from the Drug Enforcement Administration for last Saturday's Prescription Drug Take-Back Event: Los Angeles area residents turned in 16,560 pounds of medicine - more than 8 tons. Dang. That's a lot of pills! more ›

It's time for a little fall cleaning, SoCal. If your medicine cabinets are bursting open with a potpourri of pills, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day could be your space-saving savior. This Saturday, October 29, SoCal residents can de-clutter their shelves and take their old prescription meds to local city halls or police departments from 10am to 2pm for proper disposal. more ›

Check out our interview with Betsy Brandt aka Marie Schrader from AMC's "Breaking Bad" which will have its season finale tonight at 10 p.m. — a must-watch! This show is sure to be among the top pics for next year's awards season, don't miss it. more ›

Marijuana has no therapeutic value and must remain classified as a dangerous drug along the same lines as heroin, MDMA, and PCP, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ruled on Friday. more ›

If you've got a cocaine habit, doctors are warning users that there is some tainted stuff on the market in Los Angeles and New York. "Doctors at LA BioMed at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA say drug dealers are cutting cocaine with levamisole, used for deworming livestock," reports KTLA. The practice of using the drug to "cut" cocaine has been on the rise in recent years. more ›

If you're hoarding masses of excess prescription pills and aren't sure of when or how to just get rid of them, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is ready to serve you. On Saturday, April 30th, they will be hosting their second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day at sites throughout Southern California. The service is anonymous and free, no questions asked--just show up and drop off all those pills you don't want in your home anymore. more ›

Federal agents and local authorities conducted raids yesterday on two medical marijuana dispensaries located in West Hollywood. Both of the shops, Alternative Herbal Health Services and Zen Healing Collective, are "among four that the city has authorized to operate," notes LA Now. more ›

The LAPD, DEA, and ATF joined forces early this morning to conduct dozens of arrests of members of the 38th Street Gang gang, as part of a massive indictment against the criminal organization on federal charges, according to the Department of Justice. 800 officers arrested a total of 57 people, of which 37 are defendants named in the indictment. more ›

The Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division announced yesterday they collected 8,190 pounds of medicine as part of the Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Program held on Saturday, September 25th. The goal of the one-day event was to give people a safe method and location for disposing of unwanted prescription medication. more ›

Thursday, a team of authorities from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics and Aero Bureaus, in a joint operation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Forest Service removed 11,249 marijuana plants growing in the Angeles National Forest in the Knapp Ranch and Fish Canyon sections. The marijuana has an estimated street value of $22 million. more ›

A group of local police and federal agents gathered in a Studio City parking lot Thursday evening were involved in a shooting that left one man dead and another arrested. A multi-jurisdiction task force made up of LAPD officers, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration were conducting a warrant service debriefing around 9:30 p.m. in a parking lot off Ventura Boulevard when they noticed a man casing the area, possibly to break into cars. One of those cars was reportedly owned by a task force member (unconfirmed reports suggest the officers were not in uniform or driving official vehicles). more ›

A 5-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department was arrested today for selling narcotics, officials have announced. Yoshio Romero, assigned to patrol Southeast Division, became the subject of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation in April for selling methamphetamine while off-duty. When the LAPD was informed, an internal administrative investigation was also launched. On Monday the 28-year-old was arrested in Riverside County under a federal arrest warrant. The investigation is ongoing. more ›

A West Hollywood clinic's doctor has been arrested on charges he wrote "thousands of prescriptions for highly addictive drugs for 'patients' he did not examine and who simply paid cash for the prescriptions," according to the Department of Justice. more ›

From lawsuits to raids, around 20 local marijuana dispensaries today were subject of various law enforcement activities. As the DEA served a search warrant to Organica Collective in Culver City this morning, the Los Angeles City Attorney's office announced the filing of lawsuits against three medical marijuana dispensaries, including Organica, which has been subject of raids in the past. more ›

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." If you have a suggestion for a future Seven Questions subject send us an email. more ›

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday that "federal authorities will stop raiding dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is legal," reports the Daily News. more ›

At about noon yesterday Drug Enforcement Administration agents showed up at Organica Collective at 13456 Washington Boulveard in Venice and conducted a raid that yielded no arrests, but left a tremendous amount of disarray in their wake. more ›

He went to a clinic in the San Fernando Valley of the city and the only medical condition he could think of was how he gets anxious. more ›

Yesterday, Drug Enforcement Agents arrested Virgil Grant, 41, who owns six medical marijuana dispensaries around Los Angeles, after an incident that allegedly involved product from one of his stores, reports the LA Times. more ›

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.” more ›

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. more ›

Slide your money in the slot, press the right alphanumeric combo, and down drops a treat for you to reach in and grab. more ›

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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. For both them and the truly ill in California, it's become an easy matter: just drop by your little pot shop around the corner. [60 Minutes]

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... more ›

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.... more ›

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. more ›

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: more ›

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 picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›