As Canada’s prime minister talks up the imminent legalization of marijuana, a Vancouver-based pharmaceutical startup is taking the cannabis plant apart to find compounds that could treat disorders ranging from glaucoma to a rare skin disorder.

InMed Pharmaceuticals aims to use the more than 100 different “cannabinoids” as the raw materials for a number of clinical applications.

“We’re going far away from any so-called recreational (use),” said InMed chief medical officer Dr. Ado Muhammad. “We’re going away completely from that direction, to make sure that the product is comparable to any other antibiotics or drugs.”

Colorado is moving ahead with a first-in-the-nation attempt to allow marijuana clubs.

But the measure that passed a Republican state Senate committee Wednesday evening doesn’t go as far as some marijuana activists hoped.

The bill would allow on-site marijuana consumption at private clubs in willing jurisdictions. And those clubs may allow indoor cannabis consumption, despite health concerns about indoor smoking.

With a growing number of countries liberalizing the use of cannabis, new ways to make the drug safer for users are urgently needed, experts warn.

A report, ‘Can cannabis be made safer?’ published in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, claims that the amount of people in the UK seeking specialist treatment for cannabis side effects has increased by 50 percent in the last eight years.

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While old-style herbal cannabis is unlikely to cause mental health issues, the reports warns that the majority of cannabis being sold on the streets is an extremely potent form of the drug, known as ‘sinsemilla’ (which in Spanish means ‘without seed’) or ‘skunk’, which could increase the risk of developing psychosis.

The Trump administration is causing serious paranoia among marijuana advocates with its hints of a federal crackdown on recreational use. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions has privately reassured some Republican senators that he won't deviate from an Obama-era policy of allowing states to implement their own marijuana laws.

Sessions has rattled both libertarians and liberals in ordering a review of the hands-off pot policy under President Barack Obama. But Sessions provided some private assurances to senators before he was confirmed that he was not considering a major shift in enforcement, despite his opposition to the use of marijuana.

The cabinet is expected to vote Sunday to decriminalize the use of marijuana in Israel.

According to the proposal formulated by the Public Security and Justice ministries, any first-time offender caught using marijuana in public would receive a fine rather than face criminal action.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called the change a welcome one. “This is a milestone so thousands of ordinary people will no longer be considered criminals,” she said.

The proposal was based on the conclusions of a committee headed by Public Security Ministry Director General Rotem Peleg, with the recommendations accepted by her Minister Gilad Erdan.

A second marijuana retailer has opened for business in the southeast Alaska city of Sitka.

The Northern Lights Indoor Gardens began selling its products February 16. The business is located in the same strip mall as the city’s first marijuana business, Weed Dudes, The Sitka Sentinel reported Tuesday.

Northern Lights owner Micah Miller said he’s been selling about a pound of pot each day and likely won’t have enough to keep up with demand before his next crop is ready in late March.

He expects sales to pick up in March when commercial fishermen come into town for herring season.

“My doors will be closed at some moment for a minute,” said shop owner Micah Miller. “Really, I wish we had twice the operation.”

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Policymakers should regulate the potency of cannabis products such as skunk and oil, aiming for a chemical balance that reduces the risk of psychosis without losing the drug's pleasurable effects, experts said on Thursday.

With cannabis laws becoming more liberalized in many countries - particularly the United States - there is also an urgent need for more detailed and accurate scientific studies to explore how cannabis use can be made safer, the experts said.

"Worldwide there is a trend towards liberalization and increasing consumption," said Robin Murray, a professor at King College's London's the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience.

The states that have legalized recreational marijuana — a multibillion-dollar business — don’t want to hear the federal government talk about a crackdown. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says she wants Oregonians left alone to “grow these jobs.”

In Oregon alone, that’s roughly 12,500 jobs, said economist Beau Whitney of Portland, adding that he is making a conservative estimate. Oregon’s attorney general said she would be duty-bound to fight to protect the state’s cannabis industry.