Before the Council received the motion, cannabis retailers paid nearly ten times what liquor stores pay (annually). Such high fees greatly impacted the cannabis-regulated market, driving prices through the roof and enabling sellers in the black market.  Cannabis sold in the black market is never a reality any country wants to accept because it is through such illegal sectors, young people start to abuse weed. Councilor Rebecca Bligh of the Vancouver Council proposed the slash, maintaining that it is a move aimed at helping licensed retailers thrive in the cannabis market.