California and Weed | Anti/LAist We had a very big story on LAist, that got a lot of people excited about the potential for a new system that would legalize weed for all adults to be put on the ballot this November. The excitement was fueled with the hope of many that the nearly 700,000 signatures by Sept. 5, 2008 appeared very likely. The only question that was at the front of everyone's mind......

Since many are so hopeful that we can get weed legalized for everyone in California, we thought we would share with you what happened in 2006. From the trends you can see below, fewer and fewer people see marijuana as a "bad, evil, boogie-man that will unravel society as we know it."...

As Californians consider whether or not to vote on the legalization of marijuana this November, a study conducted at a Johns Hopkins University lab is now launching a look into the potential health and wellness benefits of illegal mushrooms, too. A study participant who tried these so-called "magic mushrooms" left her experience with insight that may now provide a scientific explanation of the existence of hippies: ...a business consultant named Dede Osborn took a......

That was an eighth of some $80 weed. 510 Kush. Photo by Anti/LAist digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/California_to_Legalize_Weed_for_Everyone'; There is an initiative in the works that could end up on the November ballot that allows for marijuana to be sold to anyone, and anywhere that already sells alcohol. Its being called The Inalienable Rights Enforcement Initiative. From the full text of the measure: This initiative will amend the Constitution of California to defend and safeguard the......

Photo courtesy of Zach Behrens/LAist What can we say? The Playboy mansion loves LAist. After a highly amusing bout at Spike TV's Guy's Choice Awards afterparty, we were invited back to check out the 3rd annual Marijuana Policy Project fundraiser. With Perry Farrel of Jane's Addiction at the turntables and celebrities swarming the grounds, hundreds flocked to the Mansion with the sole intention to raise awareness about the importance of marijuana legalization. Well that, and......

In November, Californians will vote on an amendment change to the California constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, there for stopping same-sex marriages from occurring (they begin June 17). Similarly, a 2003 amendment change by state legislatures to the 1996 voter-approved Compassionate Use Act was found unconstitutional by a Court of Appeals last month. They said the change needed a vote by the people, according to the......

There is a city in California called Weed, "named for a man, not a plant. Abner Weed was a lumber baron who served as a state senator from these parts a century ago," writes Eric Bailey of the LA Times. One local business owner, Vaune Dillmann of Mt. Shasta Brewing Co., put a double entendre joke-slogan on the bottle caps of his Weed Ales: "Try Legal Weed." The federal government doesn't like that and wants......

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......

There's something similar about Weeds on Showtime and today's marijuana bust in the Santa Clarita Valley. If you watch the TV show and know the SCV, you know that it is filmed there (opening credits are very much the neighborhood of unincorporated Stevenson Ranch). And now today, via the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station's Blog/RSS feed (see, SCV can be hip too), we find that "detectives discovered a substantial indoor marijuana grow estimated to contain more......

Late in 2007 LAist began weed reviews, a sporadic column featuring a different variety of marijuana while presenting it as though it were a wine review, and of those different kinds of pot 3 stood out as superior to the rest....

For those interested in entertainment I might liken to wrist-slitting, there's Disney on Ice or George Lopez live at the Nokia. For everyone else there's a few things going down around town. FILM Scarface (1932) scribe Ben Hecht's moody 1927 film Underworld screens tonight at the Silent Movie Theatre. "Viennese director Josef von Sternberg’s gritty revenge narrative follows the turbulent romantic and criminal phiursuits" of felon Bull Weed, and the film is often considered "the......

Philly native, Beanie Sigel hit the road for Los Angeles to promote his new album, The Solution which dropped yesterday. The Rocafella representative took a little time in between radio interviews and a late night run to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles to chat with LAist about his latest effort, his time locked up and the current state of hip hop music. How’s the response for the album been so far? Good, you know the album......

LAFD responded to a fire in the 3200 block of Dos Palos Drive in Studio City Sunday morning. The blaze was confined to the patio of the residence but upon entering the home, firefighters saw what appeared to be weed. LAPD followed up and confiscated 382 marijuana plants -- approx. 48 pounds -- growing in the garage. 37-year-old Eric Porter of Studio City was later arrested and booked on suspicion of felony cultivation of marijuana,......

We scored this tasty blend from Dealer McDope the other day, for $55 an 8th. Super Silver Haze was the first prize winner at the High Tims Cannabis Cup in 1997, 1998 and 1999. It's a superb plant well known for bringing joy to the masses. Pre-Smoke Examination: The nugs are huge. My whole 8th was that nug in the picture. It's smell is pungent and very strong. It smells close to skunk with......

We bought this from a dude's Toyota trunk in a dollar store parking lot for $50 an 8th. Trainwreck is a toker's favorite, with its unique flavor and powerful high who can blame them? This sativa blend is rumored to have originated out of Humboldt, CA. Pre-Smoke Examination: The nugs come in all sizes, from the pictured above, to little pebble sized nugs no bigger than a US dime. The buds are fresh, and......

A Venice-based organization has ended their efforts to bring NFL running back Ricky Williams to Los Angeles. The group, known as Wii'd, likes to get high and play Madden 2007 on days that end in "y." Williams, who was a college standout at Texas, has a strained relationship with the NFL due to his close relationship with Mary Jane. He recently applied to the league for reinstatement. That caused people in Denver to put......

We bought this weed for $60/8th from some guy who didn't want to stop playing his playstation. It's a personal favorite known as Sour Diesel, or sometimes "sour dee", or when crossed with another strain it's usually named "_____ Diesel". LAist likes it so much we're doing it again. Pre-Smoke Examination: The medium sized nugs range from the size of a quarter up to 2 inches, and are not too fluffy or too dense.......

While Sacramento scrambles to cut hundreds of millions of dollars of funding for public transportation and other programs around the state, a serious group of underground marijuana professionals are offering to pay at least a billion dollars in taxes, if only California would legalize pot. A coalition of California marijuana growers and dealers has offered Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger one billion dollars to solve the current state budget crisis. The group, calling itself Let Us......

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......

Trivia: Although popular folklore asserts that Jerry Garcia played pedal steel on this #10 Billboard hit, I'm pretty sure that "Oh, Mommy (I Ain't No Commie)" was his only credited contribution to Brewer & Shipley's 1970 album, "Tarkio." That's close enough for today. Feel the burn: "One Toke Over The Line" - Brewer & Shipley What's your favorite stoner classic? Tell us in the comments.......

Dear People With Pot Houses, Four more houses whose sole purpose was to harvest marijuana were raided by police in the San Gabriel Valley. This means at least a dozen homes have gotten popped in a month out there. So either there are thousands of homes in the SGV growing weed, or the few who haven't gotten raided yet should learn from the mistakes of the others. Here are some things we've noticed. -......

Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time. Rolling Stone contributing editor Vanessa Grigoriadis just happened to be finishing up an indepth, behind-the-scenes look at the medical marijuana craze here in LA when 11 dispensaries were raided. Needless to say a good story suddenly got a lot better and even more timely. Taking the reader pretty much everywhere medical marijuana dispensary owner "Daniel" goes throughout his day, Grigoriadis describes a world that's......

- "With little fanfare until this month, Los Angeles County has quietly become the country’s capital of medical marijuana." - LA Business Journal - Tuesday night he was sent to Hollywood on "American Idol". Wednesday TMZ reported that he had been busted for possession of weed.Thursday he was fired from Idol. Thursday afternoon he says they knew about his record even before he auditioned - People - Marijuana-like chemicals (whatever the hell those are) may......

Ted Haggard came out of his magical three-week excursion and today announced that he's 100% heterosexual. No more dick for him. Nope, none. Now you might laugh and think we're just teasing the good pastor, but strangely we believe him! Which doesn't frighten us as much as the ramifications of the next step, which is-- if Ted Haggard can stop being gay in just three weeks, can you become gay in just three weeks......

- 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......

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......

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......

It's been decided that the Week in Weed should be posted on Mondays, unless it's a holiday, in which case it will be posted on Tuesdays. If we get around to it... - Midland Texas trucker caught at the border with 1,800 pounds of weed - KGBT - Yuma is not a great place, especially if you're a pickup truck, that cant move any more, with more than a half ton of weed in......

- Neighbors near Santa Barbara dispensary call the cops when men in dark clothes try to break in to the Acme Collective. Cops come in 15 minutes, thieves popped in minutes. - SB Independent - The LA Times prints two letters today regarding medical marijuana, the second being someone upset that it doesn't get taxed - LA Times - LAPD mistakes catnip for herb when they search the car of a man who runs......

Even though tens of thousands of tourists have gotten their picture taken with the "superheroes" out front of Mann's Chinese, it took the Jimmy Kimmel show that's taped across the street to make these fellas world famous. Recently Rob Cantrell of the THC Comedy Tour approached Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, and the Incredible Hulk to ask them if they'd get baked with him. Cantrell didn't ask for an autograph or a backrub or to pose......