Just because the smell bothers you doesn't mean it bothers everyone.

For instance, smelling most perfumes or colognes gives me an instant headache but those aren't banned.

Smoking wasn't banned from entrances because of the smell - it was because of the proven harm from second-hand smoke.

It's one thing if I can avoid it. I can walk approximately a meter away from bad cologne or whatever. I can't do the same with weed. Particularly strong strains have some pretty crazy carry, even worse than cigarettes.

It's a nuisance that ruins an atmosphere. To be fair, the police and businesses should be working together to ticket these people at the very least. But it isn't being done so I guess my post is just impotent rage at something that society needs to solve. Sucks though.

To me, I think cologne and perfume ruin a building. I think a lot has to do with your olfactory center.

And yeah, some strains carry stronger than otherwise - but as a former smoker, the weed smell goes away a LOT faster than cig smoke.

Weird, I’ve never met anyone who likes the smell of pot. Everyone complains it smells of skunk and it’s true. It’s one of the foulest smelling things

I would argue its an acquired smell, much like beer is an acquired taste.

I live in an urban area in Canada so get where you are coming from, but at the same time I just don't see the actual issue. It's not enough to get anywhere even remotely close to high off of and living in a city is a stinky experience by necessity of accommodating everyone and their diverse food, leisure and work preferences (also, humans are stinky in general, either from BO or from the fragrances they choose to wear to cover their BO).

How is normal smoking policed but weed smoking (an identical action) not?

It's not, at least not where I live. Weed and "cannabis" are the same thing. I quote the actual term for it because I find it hilarious how hard the industry tries to rebrand a former street drug as something more exotic than it is.

Enforcement is spotty, DUI checkpoints are not outfitted with the right equipment to diagnose being too high, weed smell coming from a car is no longer enough to elicit suspicion of intoxication (due to changes in policing), its easy to escape after smoking, etc. People do it because the probability of getting caught is low. The only thing that is policed is the stores, and even then just barely. It's easier to get busted walking around with a beer where you shouldnt than a joint. Some of this is growing pains of a society now having to deal with this nuisance, and some of it feels like selective enforcement because (at least where I live) the tax money coming in for this drug is insane.

I don't care if you smoke weed. I don't care if you do it in a weed bar, or at the weed store, or in your own home. My complaint is strictly that even today I went out and got hit with yet another cloud of skunk coming from somewhere. It should at the very least be policed with the same fervor drunk driving/public intoxication is, with the same punishments, and same criminal record. As it stands now, where I live, there is no deterrent except a small fine and a court date (if you're even caught) so hence, weed smokers do what they want.

My question is why do we not find ourselves exposed to tobacco smoke as often as weed smoke?

The same "no smoking " signs apply to both, yet tobacco smokers generally heed the posted signs while weed smokers ignore them.

In Berlin I smell weed everywhere I walk. I love it