GOVERNMENT DOPE ASSAILED
The department was compelled to begin direct distribution in July, following an Ontario court order this year that said needy patients should not be forced to get their cannabis on the streets or from authorized growers, who themselves obtain seeds or cuttings illegally. ...
The government dope also came under fire Monday from Canadians for Safe Access, a patients' rights group that is pressing for supplies of safe, effective marijuana. Laboratory tests indicate the Health Canada product has only about three per cent THC - not the 10.2 per cent advertised - and contains contaminants such as lead and arsenic, said spokesman Philippe Lucas of Victoria.
(CJAD, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

SEATTLE VOTE TRIES ENDRUN AROUND FED MARIJUANA POLICY
In a sharp rebuke to White House Drug Czar John Walters, Seattle voters overwhelmingly passed Initiative 75 today, ordering Seattle police and prosecutors to make arrest and prosecution of adults possessing marijuana for personal use their lowest priority. With 97 percent of the vote counted, the measure was winning by a margin of 58.6 percent to 41.4 percent."
(MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

CNN REPORTER'S COMMENTS DRAW FIRE
CNN star reporter Christiane Amanpour has stirred a media hornets' nest by claiming US television networks, including CNN, were "intimidated" by the Bush administration in their coverage of the war in Iraq.
Amanpour said she believed that journalists "did not ask enough questions, for instance, about weapons of mass destruction" -- adding that the issue of those alleged weapons "looks like this was disinformation at the highest levels."
(HERALD SUN, unearthed by CubaNews Digest)

CUBA EDITORIAL
The United States, and South Florida, have too much at risk to sit on the sidelines until events spin out of control. Instead, U.S. policy-makers must seek opportunities now to guide, sway and encourage groups, enterprises and institutions to adopt forward-looking approaches that embrace democratic and marketplace driven ideas.
(SUN SENTINEL, unearthed by CubaNews Digest)

"QUINCE" DOCUMENTARY PLANNED
Through her production company, Nuyorican Productions, multimedia star Jennifer Lopez will try her hand at producing a documentary, tentatively titled ''Los Quinces,'' for HBO later this year, according to Variety. The film will chronicle one week in the life of a Cuban-American teen and her family in Miami, focusing on their preparations for the lavish debutante ball that, in Cuban tradition, marks a girl's transition to womanhood on her 15th birthday.
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(ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY)

PUFFING OVER PUFFY'S VIDEO
MOORE & BODE CIGARS, INC. v. BAD BOYS ENTM'T, INC., SEAN COMBS: Florida Lawsuit By A Cigar Company Against Hip-Hop Rap Star Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs And His Company Alleging That His "Shake Your Tailfeather" Video Was Made Using Unauthorized Footage Of The Manufacturer's Secret Cigar Making Processes.
(FINDLAW)

PATRIOT ACT ABUSED
In the two years since law enforcement agencies gained fresh powers to help them track down and punish terrorists, police and prosecutors have increasingly turned the force of the new laws not on al-Qaida cells but on people charged with common crimes.
(SALON, unearthed by William L. Pfeiffer Jr.)

BUSH REVERSES HIMSELF ON PATRIOT ACT
In a three-point presidential plan that critics are already dubbing Patriot Act II, Mr. Bush is seeking broad new authority to allow federal agents — without the approval of a judge or even a federal prosecutor — to demand private records and compel testimony.
(NYT)