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.

A view of medical marijuana products at Vireo Health's medical marijuana cultivation facility, August 19, 2016 in Johnstown, New York. (Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Cannabis popular strong pain relieving effects are finally on their way to New York -- a ray of hope for the ailing community of the city. The state Department of Health (DOH) is in its final stage to add chronic pain to the list of medical marijuana programs.

Cannabis industry experts and state health officials are hopeful that thousands suffering from chronic pains will find a safer and stronger pain-relieving method under state medical marijuana program.  Now, pains of cancer and neuropathy and AIDS can successfully be relieved in patients in New York.

I was delighted to participate in yesterday’s Cannabis Colloquium in New York, sponsored by Cowen and Company.

My panel was on U.S. policy, and I was joined on the panel by Allen St. Pierre, former Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and Michael Safir, Business Manager at High Times Magazine.

My book, “Marijuana: The World’s Most Misunderstood Plant,” was provided to all in attendance.

Legislators in more than a dozen states have introduced measures to loosen laws restricting access to or criminalizing marijuana, a rush of legislative activity that supporters hope reflects a newfound willingness by public officials to embrace a trend toward legalization.

The gamut covered by measures introduced in the early days of legislative sessions underscores the patchwork approach to marijuana by states across the country — and the possibility that the different ways states treat marijuana could come to a head at the federal Justice Department, where President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to become attorney general is a staunch opponent of legal pot.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not make a stop in the Southern Tier to give one of his six State of the State addresses. While in Syracuse on Wednesday, the governor mentioned the Southern Tier region by name only once, to discuss hemp.

"The Southern Tier is actually ideal for hemp farming industry," Cuomo said. "We want to be very aggressive. We believe it could be a billion dollar industry. We want the Southern Tier to lead the way."

New York should eliminate penalties currently handed down to individuals caught possessing small amounts of marijuana, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday, citing a “dramatic shift in public opinion” evidenced by pot prohibitions being reined in from coast to coast.

The governor’s recommendation to remove criminal penalties appeared buried in a 383-page book containing his 2017 plans distributed Wednesday evening among the state legislature, New York Daily News reported.

“The illegal sale of marijuana cannot and will not be tolerated in New York State, but data consistently show that recreational users of marijuana pose little to no threat to public safety,” the Democrat wrote on page 191 of the report.

Home delivery of medical marijuana is coming to the five boroughs.

Vireo Health, one of the five licensed pot growers in New York, plans to begin home delivery service in the city, Long Island and Westchester County within three months, the company announced Wednesday.

“New Yorkers have increasingly come to expect home delivery, and we plan on leveraging ‘last mile’ supply chain technologies to meet and exceed patient expectations,” said Vireo Chief Executive Officer Ari Hoffnung.

State health officials first announced plans to allow home cannabis consignment in August as part of a gradual expansion of the tightly regulated program, which launched in January 2016.