Virginia is for lovers–and for robots.

State legislators recently passed a law allowing autonomous robots to rove sidewalks, a measure supported by multiple delivery services that could use the gadgets to drop off food, groceries, and other goods. It goes into effect on July 1.

Virginia is the first state to pass a law allowing robots to deliver straight to your door https://t.co/p6P1IRJzMB pic.twitter.com/tQ2YJcBW9D

— Recode (@Recode) March 1, 2017

Don’t make a big order or expect it to get to you anytime soon, however. The robots will not be allowed to move faster than 10 miles per hour or weigh more than 50 pounds, and must be monitored by a person. They cannot travel on the road either, unless they are on a crosswalk.

An Estonian company called Starship Technologies, which has already built and started testing robots, joined Virginia politicians Ron Villanueva, a member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, and Bill DeSteph, a state senator, to draft the bill. Amazon and Grubhub also wrote to lawmakers in support of the legislation.

DeSteph said last month that “passage of the bill in the Senate demonstrates Virginia’s commitment to innovation and the Commonwealth’s willingness to encourage the use of unmanned systems.”

Local governments throughout the state will be permitted to further regulate the robots as they see fit.

The machines could soon be rolling across the country, as politicians in Idaho and Florida push to bring the technology to their respective states.

Victoria Sheridan

Victoria is an editorial intern at Law Street. She is a senior journalism major and French minor at George Washington University. She’s also an editor at GW’s student newspaper, The Hatchet. In her free time, she is either traveling or planning her next trip abroad. Contact Victoria at VSheridan@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Special Delivery for Residents of Virginia, Thanks to New Robot Law appeared first on Law Street.

New York officials are finally addressing concerns regarding the state’s fledgling medical marijuana program in order to better meet patients’ needs and improve accessibility. Per recommendations from the New York State Department of Health, the state will begin to offer home delivery services for patients too ill to travel, as well as enable nurse practitioners to prescribe the drug.

The changes come in response to a two-year report issued two weeks ago by the Health Department on medical marijuana use under the Compassionate Care Act. The Department of Health offered a list of 12 recommendations intended to grow the program, which has struggled to gain traction since it was first legalized in 2014.

Unlike some other states, New York does not allow medical marijuana to be smoked, but it can be consumed in a variety of other non-smokable forms including tinctures, liquids, oils, vapors, and capsules. While medical marijuana advocates have often criticized the limitations of the program, changes couldn’t be made until the state had sufficient information about the problems.

“We don’t want the federal government to come in and exercise an enormous amount of oversight and shut the entire program down,”Alphonso David, Governor Cuomo’s counsel, told the New York Times. “We’ve always been interested in expanding the program. We just wanted to make sure we had the data to support it.”

According to the Associated Press, the state intends to implement all 12 of the Health Department’s recommendations, which also include plans for more dispensaries around the state and reviewing whether to make chronic pain a condition eligible for marijuana. Only residents who suffer from severe, debilitating, or life-threatening medical conditions like cancer, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy are currently eligible to qualify for the program.

Here is a list of all of the Health Department’s recommendations:

1. Authorizing nurse practitioners to certify medical marijuana patients.
2. Exploring ways to make it easier for healthcare facilities and schools to possess, secure, and administer medical marijuana products.
3. Making several general amendments to the regulations to enhance the program, including but not limited to: streamlining manufacturing requirements and broadening the capability for registered organizations to advertise their participation in the program.
4. Evaluating allowing distribution of Medical Marijuana to certified patients through home delivery services provided by registered organizations.
5. Working with the registered organizations to make more brands of medical marijuana products available to patients.
6. Continuing outreach to encourage the easing of federal restrictions on and impediments to scientific research on the potential benefits of medical marijuana, as well as the Registered Organizations’ ability to conduct financial transactions and establish traditional banking relationships.
7. Conducting a review of evidence for the medical use of marijuana in patients suffering from chronic intractable pain.
8. Identifying opportunities to enhance the practitioner, patient, and caregiver certification and registration system.
9. Meet additional patient demand and increase access to medical marijuana throughout New York State with five additional organizations over the next two years.
10. Making independent laboratories in NY apply for ELAP certification to perform testing of medical marijuana products for registered organizations.
11. Expanding the financial hardship waiver for the $50 patient and caregiver application fee for registration.
12. Streamlining and enhancing the practitioner registration process, to make it easier for practitioners to register with the program.

According to the Times, we can expect changes to the program as early as the end of next month.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post New York Expands Medical Marijuana Program to Include Home Delivery appeared first on Law Street.

The future is now…on hold until further notice. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed drone regulations that will make Amazon’s future drone service (dubbed “Amazon Prime Air”) nearly impossible to implement. Unfamiliar with the online retailer’s plan to send packages via unmanned drone? Take at look at this video with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos featured on CBS This Morning.

The concept of drone ethics has become a hot-button issue both in the United States and abroad. Most recently, the off-Broadway play “Grounded,” starring Anne Hathaway, has brought issues regarding remote drone pilots into the spotlight.

Drone regulation remains a highly divisive issue. There is no question that drones have the potential to be used as weapons of war  as well as tools for efficient aid delivery.

Let’s highlight some clear benefits to delivery by drone in the United States. If small aircraft are being used, that means having fewer delivery trucks on the road, less fuel being consumed, and faster delivery times. Companies like Amazon and Google are urging the FAA to revise its irksome rules that impede the use of drone technology rather than accommodate it.

For example, under FAA rules all drone operators must fly aircraft “only within their line of sight.” While this rule might make sense for a recreational drone user, it does not necessarily make sense for a commercial drone that could be programmed to follow a GPS path to an exact location.

Speaking of recreational drone users–if you or anyone you know owns a drone, you could get into big trouble if you do not abide by the FAA’s policies regarding small, unarmed aircraft systems.

Seems like a lot of rules for a device that could be bought online for under a hundred bucks. In fact, on most sites there are no age restrictions to purchase drones. Are kids or teenagers going to know that flying drones above 400 feet is illegal? Are they even going to abide by the FAA’s rules even if they do know? Hopefully they don’t try to fly drones in harsh weather. Or fly too close to seagulls. Or interfere with local air traffic. (Suddenly smart phones don’t seem so dangerous anymore.)

The FAA has created conservative rules regarding drone use, and it is going to take its time evaluating comments from the public and private sectors while it revises those rules. Roughly speaking, it will take 18 to 24 months for the FAA to review everything and speak with Amazon regarding proposed policy changes.

Corinne Fitamant

Corinne Fitamant is a graduate of Fordham College at Lincoln Center where she received a Bachelors degree in Communications and a minor in Theatre Arts. When she isn’t pondering issues of social justice and/or celebrity culture, she can be found playing the guitar and eating chocolate. Contact Corinne at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Looking Forward to Amazon Deliveries Via Drone? FAA Says Not So Fast appeared first on Law Street.