Ringing in the new Year means some new laws are now in effect in Kentucky.

That includes the state's medical cannabis program as of January 1st to qualified patients, it can now apply for a medical cannabis card.

It's also now legal for licensed dispensaries to sell medical marijuana in the Commonwealth.

The law requires a medical cannabis to be grown and processed in Kentucky.

And those licenses were granted late last year.

Governor Andy Beshear has said he hopes product will be available for purchase before the end of March.

Another new law means vape shops must start removing certain products from their store shelves.

House Bill 11 was passed last year with the intent to crack down on underage vaping.

It limits the sale of vaping products to a small number of brands approved by the FDA.

Retailers caught violating the law can be fined up to 20 $500 for each offense.

And lawmakers hope to make the road safer by introducing a new requirement for renewing your driver's license in Kentucky.

Our Laura Rogers explains.

In the past, the only time you took a visual screening, when you got your driver's license, you were 16 years old.

But now that it's 20, 25, it's not just new drivers that will be tested on their vision.

Safe drivers see.

Clearly.

Kentucky now joins several other states and having a vision screening requirement before you can renew your driver's license.

I think it's a great idea.

Optometrist Dr. Alex Compton sees about 30 to 40 patients a day at his Franklin practice.

You would be surprised what the brain can hide.

He says people often don't realize their eyesight is failing until they complete an exam.

Which one is more clear?

Oftentimes, the vision loss is very slow, very progressive.

National research shows that drivers with visual field loss in both eyes are 84% more likely to be involved in a crash.

Officials hope this new requirement will make our highway safer, faster, police says, in 2023.

More than 800 people died on Kentucky roads.

Few things are more important than safe driving with good eyesight.

We assess their field.

We assess their acuity, their color vision, and we tell them, you know, hey, according to these standards, you may or may not be legal or safe to operate a motor vehicle.

Dr. Compton says an added benefit may be catching diseases of the eye like glaucoma, before it's too late for treatment.

The patient's far better off if we find it before symptoms appear, and then we can prevent vision loss going forward.

We believe that vision is one of the most important factors when being behind the wheel of a car.

The Kentucky Optometric Association has advised the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on how to best roll out the measure.

If you go to your optometrist, ophthalmologist or certified vision screener, you can actually have a form filled out or you can skip the screening portion of the driver's vision renewal.

They'll need to do that within 12 months of renewing your license.

This is about highway safety and keeping Kentuckians safe.

Now, if you opt for the screening at a driver licensing regional office, it'll only take about a minute to complete with no additional cost or appointment.

If you fail that screening, you'll be referred to a vision specialist for corrective measures before you can get back behind the wheel.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.