
California bans drones from delivering marijuana - dvdhnt
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/11/16286350/california-ban-drones-delivery-marijuana
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donatj
> Transportation may not be done by aircraft, watercraft, rail, drones, human
> powered vehicles, or unmanned vehicles.

What? Why no marijuana watercraft? In all seriousness though this seems very
arbitrary.

~~~
Hupriene
This is probably motivated in part by a desire to prevent legal in-state
distribution from being easily parleyed into illegal interstate distribution.
They want to be able to keep track of all the vehicles distributing mj. This
is easier if they can only drive on roads and are required to have gps.

Since federal regulation of mj is built on the interstate commerce clause,
actual interstate commerce is a likely trigger of conflict between the federal
government and the California mj industry

~~~
eganist
In short: this regulation was passed to keep from giving the feds a very easy
reason to raid the state government of California.

Sound accurate?

~~~
subway
Seems reasonable considering all the ongoing raids on Colorado, Oregon,
Washington, and Nevada governments.

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gourou
Drones already deliver medicine in California though
[https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/2/12350274/zipline-drone-
del...](https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/2/12350274/zipline-drone-delivery-us-
launch-blood-medicine)

~~~
rflrob
Cannabis, while undoubtedly a medicinal product, is one with a very high
possibility of being used recreationally. Nobody is going to consider batting
down a drone carrying chemotherapy drugs being delivered to a reservation,
whereas the risk is a lot higher for pot brownies. If (and I don't know
whether this is true) the cannabis delivery rules are similar in scope to
alcohol delivery rules, I'm not going to get myself worked up over it.

~~~
josefresco
"very high possibility of being used recreationally"

You mean like opioids?

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escapologybb
Well, we don't want the drones getting high now do we?

 _I 'm so so sorry, I just couldn't resist_

~~~
Cthulhu_
Flagged. :p

~~~
Stratoscope
When humor is outlawed, only outlaws will have humor.

~~~
legulere
The problem is that if you allow witty comments that contribute nothing
substantially, you will end up with nothing else but witty comments. This
happened to a lot of subreddits on reddit.

~~~
jameskegel
This place becomes more and more like reddit every day. Where is proper STEM
discourse happening now?

~~~
TeMPOraL
"This place becomes more and more like reddit every day" is so old a meme
here, that it wouldn't surprise me if a similar phrase was posted as one of
the first 100 comments of HN's history.

~~~
mtreis86
The meme is older than the internet for sure,

"In a paper on 'Pure Mathematics for Engineering Students,' published in The
Bulletin for March 1901, I expressed opinions which coincide with those given
here today. I then said that instruction in mathematics for engineering
students should have two objects (1) to develop an engineering mind, and (2)
to develop mathematics as an instrument of research for the engineer. I came
to these conclusion at that time as a result of inquiries made of graduates of
several institutions, who were in engineering practice, and of their
employers. From the latter, I have had the statement that it is inadvisable to
place a man in the higher positions in engineering who has not has a good
mathematical training, especially, in the calculus, which, they assert,
develops those modes of thought which are necessary to the engineer." Arthur
E. Hayes, Symposium on Mathematics for Engineering Students, 1907

~~~
jameskegel
It'd be great if someone could either answer me or refute my assertion instead
of pointing to prior art as if it nullifies what was said. This, in itself, is
an example of the topic post.

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c0nducktr
Good to see California really tackling the big issues.

~~~
pavel_lishin
That's not a useful point of view. Should they only tackle one issue at a
time, in order of priority?

~~~
josefresco
They shouldn't tackle this at all...

~~~
daveFNbuck
By "this" do you mean marijuana legalization, regulation around the sale and
delivery of marijuana, or specifically the part about drones?

~~~
josefresco
I did mean the drone part, but now that you mention it ... all of it -
regulation of cannabis should be like alcohol but even _lighter_ IMHO

~~~
pavel_lishin
So you're saying that, yes, they _should_ regulate it.

Out of the thousands of other issues facing the California government, where
would you rank it?

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edoceo
In regulated states transport must happen in a locked container, fixed to the
vehicle, operated by a licensed driver. The driver, and vehicle must me
registered with the State agency. CA is likely following existing legal
designs.

Hard to do those things on bikes or drones.

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1024core
"Transportation may not be done by ... human powered vehicles ..."

Does that mean no bike deliveries?

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jaclaz
>The Bureau also specifically states that those delivering the cannabis aren’t
allowed to consume the substance while out on the delivery.

Since driving under the effects of marijuana is already not allowed, maybe
they are specifying it for non-driving people?

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sharemywin
Brings up an interesting problem...How do the police pull over a drone or
rover etc?

Should these vehicles have visibly identifiable plates/cards?

~~~
xemoka
Yep, the FAA requires drones to have visible identifier if over 0.55 lbs.
There's even a couple sites[1][2] to help manage it, although I'm not sure how
beneficial they are... I've only been flying drones in Canada.

[1] [https://drone-registration.net/](https://drone-registration.net/)

[2] [https://www.droneid.us/](https://www.droneid.us/)

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DonHopkins
How about T-Shirt Guns?

[http://www.tshirtguns.com/](http://www.tshirtguns.com/)

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synicalx
Damn, so does this mean I need to actually take off my VR apparatus to receive
delivery of my dank legal weed?

I can still pay with Bitcoin, right? Sorry I mean Bitcash. Wait no, Dogecoin?
Or was it Litecoin?

For real though, 2017 produces the best ever news headlines.

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quuquuquu
Would other industries be wise to expect such regulations?

All of my "Drone Uber for [weed, pills, guns, flammable materials, knives,
slingshots, katanas, scissors, ...]" ideas are now in limbo.

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runnr_az
No sequel to Air Bud?

