Many consumers obtain their marijuana through storefront "dispensaries", which have sprung up across Canada, encouraged by liberalisation in the United States. Vancouver has the liveliest retail sector, with 176 dispensaries, or "compassion clubs", which buy the surplus produced by home-based herbalists. These hope to become the basis of a legal distribution network. In June Vancouver’s city council decided to regulate them, even though they remain illegal in the eyes of federal law. (See also: SAQ union explores selling marijuana at liquor stores)