The votes were counted, the oath was taken and Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States Friday. However, a new president isn’t the only thing Americans received as a result of the 2016 election — a slew of citizens got sweet changes to marijuana laws after nine states legalized cannabis in some capacity.

With a new leader of the republic, there are bound to be changes ahead regarding many policies and practices in the U.S. Trump has already said the first of his executive orders would change immigration rules and Obamacare, and advance plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile,  states where marijuana was legalized were beginning to structure and implement regulations.

Donald Trump steps in as the president of a nation increasingly at odds with federal marijuana policy.

Throughout the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, activists hit the streets of Washington, D.C, marching and demonstrating—some breaking the law—for a variety of causes, including LGBT rights, drawing attention to climate change, and immigration law reform.

Among them were a group of marijuana advocates who, in broad daylight in Dupont Circle—the tony neighborhood northwest of the White House—handed out 8,000 free joints to the public. The mass distribution was totally legal, as the city's initiative 71 became effective in November 2015, allowing D.C. residents to own, grow, and distribute marijuana—so long as money doesn’t change hands.

In November, Californians overwhelmingly voted to embrace pro-pot laws that clear the way toward creating the United States' biggest recreational marijuana market. Is California's marijuana market a boon to marijuana investors? Read on to see how big California's marijuana market could become.

First, some history

California pioneered medical marijuana legalization in the 1990s, but it has been slower to endorse laws that open up the recreational marijuana market.

Cannabis consumers could be paying more Colorado marijuana tax come July 1. As with any proposed tax increase, the prospect has been met with some concern amid the news that one of the state's pot taxes would increase 50 percent.

At issue is a proposal floated this week by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper that would raise the special sales tax on recreational marijuana products to 12 percent on the date it was scheduled to drop to 8 percent from its current 10 percent.

Unaffected would be the 15 percent excise tax on cultivators, the 2.9 percent standard state sales tax and any local sales taxes.

"Some people that smoke with me get lazy. But I’m a mature hustler, an executive boss. I’m rare,” says 2 Chainz. “I’ve always smoked while I’m working. This happens every night, whether the cameras are on or off. This is the lifestyle that people have to accept from me.”

Politically, Virginia has come to be viewed as somewhat "purple," a mixture of southern conservatism and liberalizing suburbs, and weed activists now see it at the tipping point for legal marijuana.

But could it go green? Probably not all at once. 

Popcorn buds, as the name implies, are buds just about or a little smaller than popcorn. These are usually B-grade buds that don’t have the bag appeal of large, lustrous A-grade nugs. One of the nice parts about popcorn buds is their intermediate position between budget cannabis and high-quality bud. The potency of popcorn buds should be on par with, if not slightly lower than, A-grade buds of the same strain (by the same producer).

Saskatoon residents have a new avenue to clear the air about medical marijuana.

Supplying customers with information, classes and access to doctors open to prescribing medical marijuana, National Access Cannabis (NAC) opened its Saskatoon location in early January.

Promoting and educating people about marijuana as medicine, the business — which has locations across Canada — does not house or sell any marijuana, nor does it encourage people to purchase marijuana from illegal storefront dispensaries.

Instead it encourages clients to purchase medicine from one of Health Canada’s 38 licensed producers.

Canadians and Americans spent US$56.4 billion on marijuana in 2016, and 88 per cent of that spending was illegal, according to a new report.

The report by ArcView Market Research, titled "The State Of Legal Marijuana Markets," looked at legal, medicinal and illicit markets in the U.S. and Canada. The organization released an executive summary of their findings this week, in advance of the full report's release in February.