LA Confidential, photo by ChelseyHerba

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LA Confidential

Also listed as L.A. Confidential

VerifiedIndica-leaningType I β€” caryophyllene/limonene
Most-cited cross
OG LA Affie Γ— Afghani
Breeders on record
DNA Genetics
Median THC
21.2% Β· 334 tests
Total terpenes
1.52%

Commonly reported: relaxed, happy, sleepy, euphoric, uplifted Β· tastes earthy, pine, sweet

🧬 Look for DNA test reports on Kannapedia β†—

Type labels are reported marketing/morphology labels, not chemistry. Basis: type label.

Genetics

Family tree

LA Confidential
  • Verified
  • Well-supported
  • Reported
  • Folklore
  • Disputed

Bred from LA Confidential

Cataract KushLA CheeseConfidential CheeseCitrixConnie ChungLA ChocolatReconCrockett's ConfidentialConfidential Alien...Grandaddy ConfidentialGrape LAOlympiaReCon 2.0SogkushLa Fire

Genetics

Lineage claims

  1. OG LA Affie Γ— Afghani

    Verified

    Tier A dossier la-confidential

  2. OG LA Affie Γ— Afghani

    Well-supported

    Stated by Blimburn Seeds, DNA Genetics

Competing claims are shown side by side, never merged.

Lab data

Cannabinoids

Cannabinoid medians for LA Confidential
  • THC21.2%n=334
  • CBG0.40%n=184
  • CBC0.03%n=140
  • THCV0.01%n=77
  • CBN0.01%n=111
  • CBD0.00%n=303

Bar = median; line = lowest to highest test. Public lab records; values vary by grower and lab.

Lab data

Terpenes

Terpene medians for LA Confidential
  • Ξ²-Caryophyllene0.64%n=173
  • Limonene0.41%n=173
  • Humulene0.34%n=173
  • Linalool0.23%n=173
  • Myrcene0.19%n=173
  • Bisabolol0.11%n=173
  • Ξ²-Pinene0.07%n=112
  • Ξ±-Pinene0.05%n=173

Good for

Use cases

Use-case percentiles for LA Confidential
  • Sleep77th
  • Stress74th
  • Relaxation61th
  • Energy61th
  • Pain48th
  • Social47th
  • Clear-headed36th
  • Creativity23th
  • Focus17th
  • Appetite14th

Percentile vs. other strains, from user-reported effects plus lab terpenes. Terpene links to effects are hypotheses with weak evidence; faded bars are terpene-only.

Awards

πŸ† Cannabis cup record

  • #3

    Errl Cup 2018

    Concentrate Indica Β· entered by Rhizo

    reported Β· source

  • #3

    Karma Cup 2014

    Best Indica Β· entered by London Compassion

    reported Β· source

  • #2

    High Times Cannabis Cup / Medical Cannabis Cup (United States editions) 2011

    Indica Cup Β· entered by 420 Wellness Dispensary

    reported Β· source

  • #2

    HighLife Cup (Highlife Hemp Fair, Utrecht/Amsterdam) 2010

    Hash Β· entered by Pollinator Company

    reported Β· source

  • β˜…

    HighLife Cup (Highlife Hemp Fair, Utrecht/Amsterdam) 2009

    Second

    reported Β· source

  • #2

    High Times Cannabis Cup (Amsterdam) 2005

    Indica Cup Β· entered by DNA Genetics

    reported Β· source

  • #1

    IC420 / ICMag 420 Growers Cup 2005

    Indica Grower Β· entered by DNA Genetics

    reported Β· source

  • #3

    High Times Cannabis Cup (Amsterdam) 2004

    Indica Cup Β· entered by DNA Genetics

    reported Β· source

Dossier

History & sources

1. Summary

LA Confidential is DNA Genetics' first flagship seed strain, from the mid-2000s. Don and Aaron, who had grown in "Hollyweed", CA since the late 1980s and founded DNA in 2003, crossed "their classic OG Los Angeles-based Affy with a potent Afghani".12 DNA's statement of the cross, OG LA Affie Γ— Afghani, was printed by High Times in 2008 and again in 2013. It is verified as a breeder statement, though what the "OG LA Affie" clone was is unknown.134 DNA's own 2008 catalog page states no cross. It lists the type as Indica, 7–8 weeks, and a string of awards.5 Cataract Kush = OG Kush Γ— an LA Confidential male, the latter "actually a fifth backcross with the Afghan male", suggesting that DNA's seed line was backcrossed toward the Afghani.3

The award record conflicts between DNA sources and High Times:

  • DNA's 2008 page lists: 1st Indica IC420 Breeders Cup 2005; 1st Vegas Cup 2007; 2nd Indica HT Cannabis Cup 2005; 3rd Indica HT Cup 2006; 3rd Kush Cup 2006; HT Top 10 Strain of 2006.5
  • High Times in 2009 wrote: "top indica prize at the '08 Cannabis Cup, top strain at the '07 Kush Kup, best indica at the '05 Breeders Cup … second for best indica at the '04 and '05 Cannabis Cups … 'Strain of the Year' in 2006".6
  • Wikipedia: 3rd Indica 2004 and 2nd Seed-Company Indica 2005.7

2. Identity

  • Names/aliases: LA Confidential, L.A. Confidential, LA Con, LAC; derivatives Cannadential, ReCon, Connie Chung, Cataract Kush, LA Cheese, Confidential Cheese, Crockett's Confidential, Grape LA.58
  • Type as reported: "pure indica" (HT 2008); "Indica" (DNA 2008).15
  • Era: about 2004 onward.
  • Breeder: DNA Genetics (Don & Aaron).2
  • Propagation: seed (regular from 2008, feminised from 2009); also clone selections.5

3. Genetics & lineage claims

  • 3a. OG LA Affie Γ— Afghani β€” verified as DNA's statement (HT 2008, 2013).134
  • 3b. Backcrossed toward the Afghan male (5th BC male used in Cataract Kush) β€” reported (HT 2008, DNA via writer).3
  • 3c. "Afghani Γ— Northern Lights" appears only as a joke in an HT 2010 humor column. Not a lineage claim.9

4. Timeline

  • 2003 β€” DNA Genetics founded.2
  • 2004–2008 β€” Cup placings as described above (conflicting lists).567
  • 2006 β€” HT Top 10 Strain / "Strain of the Year".56
  • 2008 β€” DNA online store (Wayback) lists LA Confidential (SD01); feminised by 2009 (DNA-025).5
  • 2009 β€” Bridge Cup: five of nine judges pick a grower's LA Confidential.6
  • 2011 β€” Denver Medical Cup: 2nd Indica (420 Wellness).10
  • 2014 β€” HT Seed Bank Hall of Fame: DNA "Known for LA Confidential".11

5. Historical descriptions

  • 2008: pure indica, about 8 weeks, "tons of sticky resin glands"; an "uplifting and truly lung-expanding smoke".1
  • 2009: relieves pain and insomnia; the high is "psychedelic and energetic β€” with a hammer".6

6. Cannabinoid & terpene profile

Caveat: strain names are not reliable chemotype identifiers.

DatasetNameTHC avgnTerpenes
Smith 202212LA Confidential16.6%201myrcene 0.46, caryophyllene 0.34, limonene 0.25 (n=56; total 1.72)
WA I-50213LA Confidential namessee fragment216β€”
Current records14"LA Confidential"20.6%334 (165 NV)caryophyllene 0.63, limonene 0.41, humulene 0.32, linalool 0.22 (n=173)

7. Community sentiment

  • Heavy, pain-relieving, sleepy indica with a strong head component β€” common, positive.61
  • Award-laden classic of the 2000s seed era β€” common.11

Overall score: 78/100 (an estimate). Reddit not sampled.

8. Open questions

  • What the "OG LA Affie" clone was (an LA Afghani clone?).
  • Which Cup placings are correct (DNA's 2008 list vs HT 2009 vs Wikipedia).

9. Sources

Footnotes

  1. High Times #387, Apr 2008, 20th Cannabis Cup coverage, "LA Confidential, DNA Genetics". Internet Archive OCR, item hightimes1974-2018 (Public Domain Mark). https://archive.org/details/hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. High Times #403, Aug 2009, DNA Genetics profile (founded 2003; growing since the late '80s). archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. High Times #394, Nov 2008, Amsterdam seed-company feature ("an OG-LA Affie crossed with Afghani"; Cataract Kush). archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. High Times #451, Aug 2013, DNA Genetics feature ("OG LA Affie x Afghani"). archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2

  5. DNA Genetics online store, "LA Confidential" (SD01), capture 2008-05-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20080520072020/http://www.dnagenetics.com:80/online_store/dna_genetics_la_confidential_cannabis_seeds.cfm ; feminised (DNA-025) capture 2009-01-23 (via catalogs/dna-genetics.json) β€” seed_catalog. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  6. High Times #404, Sep 2009, Bridge Cup item (award list). archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. Wikipedia, "Cannabis Cup". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_Cup β€” secondary_database. ↩ ↩2

  8. DNA catalog derivatives (catalogs/dna-genetics.json); High Times #423, Apr 2011 and #443, Dec 2012 (LA Cheese) β€” seed_catalog/news. ↩

  9. High Times #414, Jul 2010, humor column. archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩

  10. High Times #427, Aug 2011, Denver Medical Cup results. archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩

  11. High Times #458, Mar 2014, Seed Bank Hall of Fame list. archive.org hightimes1974-2018 β€” news. ↩ ↩2

  12. Smith et al. 2022 (src-chem-smith2022-data). ↩

  13. WA I-502 (src-chem-wa-i502-jikomes2018). ↩

  14. Cannlytics + CT DCP, _computed_current_lab_stats.json β€” lab_dataset. ↩