As do I, in spite of my conviction. But that doesn't make any of what I posted incorrect. I have family there, and want to cross frequently, so I researched the issue.
Even if you say you know people who told US Customs and Immigration they'd been convicted, and had still been allowed in, I believe I covered that too: US law says any criminal conviction makes a person inadmissible, and that decision is entirely at the agent's discretion. That individual discretion includes allowing convicted Canadians the privilege of crossing into states where their offence is not criminal. But it's case by case, occasion by occasion. Furthermore, it is your responsibility to declare your possible inadmissibility at the border for the agent to decide on, and failing to do so is grounds for keeping you out, and that can be a ban for life.
I wish your friends (and myself) all the luck in the world, but any one of us could lose out on our very next try.