i live in WA. here weed has been legal for quite a while. It's not a big deal and people consume basically sort of like alcohol. As far as I know there is no causation effect between smoking/eating weed and how well you do in life.

The story about potheads that mess up their lives are usually stereotypes of people in rough situations that are f'ed with or without weed. It's usually poverty and lack of opportunity that messes you up, not smoking a joint