On the heels of last month’s announcement from Canada’s health minister at the United Nations’ General Assembly that legislation to legalize marijuana will be introduced next spring, changes are underway in Vancouver.

Over the past year, several British Columbia cities have issued one-off business licenses to dispensaries, but Vancouver is the first city in Canada to create a separate set of cannabis-regulating bylaws.

Last week, The Wealth Shop, located just outside the gates of the University of British Columbia in the upscale neighborhood of Point Grey, received Vancouver’s first license to operate for a cannabis business. As a for-profit dispensary, the as-yet-unopened store must pay an annual licensing fee of $30,000 to the City of Vancouver.

The majority of existing pot shops operate as “compassion clubs,” which require a $1,000 fee to obtain a license. Currently, both types of dispensaries still operate outside the federal government’s medical marijuana program. [Read more at The Cannabist at The Denver Post]