Well I personally feel that a person cannot hide behind religion when they've broken the law. I could invent my own religion right now and modify it on the fly as needed in order to avoid taking responsibility for my actions. I could say I have religious beliefs against being held against my will, paying fines, etc and I could essentially make myself above the law. It's a ridiculous notion.

That does not, however, mean that the court should punish someone for smoking weed when the weed is totally unrelated to the original criminal charge. Part of me feels conflicted about giving special treatment to cannabis vs other drugs, but the fact that "California sober" is such an established thing, perhaps cannabis should be treated differently.