The City council of Vancouver in west Canada on Wednesday passed rules to regulate marijuana pot shops by introducing high license fees and restrictions on the locations of those shops.

Marijuana is illegal in Canada but Vancouver has witnessed an emergence of more than 100 "medical marijuana" shops, which prompts the council to approve new rules to license those shops, under strict conditions. < The regulations will prohibit pot shops from opening near schools, community centers and other public places.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city had to act because of a "lack of sensibility" on the part of the federal government to deal with the need to regulate pot dispensaries.

He said the city had the support of the police, the health authority and many others in restricting the number of the shops.

"These new rules give the city the tools we need to properly managing medical marijuana dispensaries while allowing people who need it to have access," Robertson said in a statement.

Robertson also said the federal government needs to revisit its position and modernize its approach, noting that the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled medical marijuana shops are permissible.

Vancouver is the first city in Canada to regulate illegal marijuana shops.

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