If the religious faction can get over the leaders they supporting lying and cheating all the time they can get over people smoking a plant.

They can cheat, lie and steal but as long as they ask for forgiveness they believe they are more pure than an honest pot smoker. I look forward to the day where most religions are classified as a mental illness. The fact that psychology has kind of made this exception makes me think the whole industry is pretty messed up.

If only that's how psychology worked...

Well you aren't wrong.

Sadly.

“Politics is mathematics. Principles are worth having, but they don’t get you elected.”

Other peoples's enjoyment has a tendency to stink up the place. I can smell some homes from the opposite side of a four lane road.

That’s not any different than loud cars or smelly food. The smell of barbecue smoke gives me a headache, but I don’t demand that we outlaw barbecue.

Survivor bias: There are plenty of ways to consume pot that don't "stink up the place" (vaping, tinctures, and edibles among them) that are preferred by many. You're only smelling the weed from people smoking in specific ways. My brother-in-law's house smells like weed the second you step inside but is a perfectly unsmelly suburban home from the even the porch.

How is this any different than someone smoking cigarettes, other than that we're more accustomed to exposure to second hand tobacco?