"We merely deny ourselves that experience". You're talking circles. According to Buddhism there is no self. So if its a problem, don't let it arise in the first place(don't give that thing any energy or thought) and its not a problem. This thread is an exercise in futility, and Osal seems to...
But in the end, to reach "enlightenment", all of those things were "given up". For the average person, without the direct intervention of a Buddha, it seems the shortest path is non-attachment in the first place. Because there is a difference between love and unconditional compassion.
I imagine that habitual acceptance of your marijuana use is harmful to the enlightenment process the same way marriage is: if you do it, you're not committed to reaching "it" within this lifetime. You have chosen a life dependent upon relative factors. Enlightenment is(supposedly)the highest...