This is one of the more hot-button topics that arises on various backpacking forums and draws a lot of interest and varied opinion.

Part of the issue is that so many people are "taught" fairly conservative versions of how to deal with bears, and as a sort of "universal truth" that as they find over time that bears are in fact generally not lining up to raid their food every night, IMO there can then be a potential overreaction in the other direction. Among thru-hikers, it's pretty well understood that bear encounters are rare; you can "just sleep with your food" and rarely have any issues as a result and many (most?) thru-hikers do, apart from in national parks.

The problem with this is, as OM pointed out, you're not just risking yourself, you're risking the bear's life.

I guess my current/latest opinion on all of this is that folks with relatively little experience --- it's fine for them to err on the conservative side. With a bit of experience I think one gets a better sense for what the odds are in a given area. Anywhere near where bears are habituated, and in or near national parks and the like --- be conservative as heck, and if hanging is your strategy then in those locations actually do a decent job (so often I see a sort of pathetic hand-wave in the direction of hanging that wouldn't stop most bears from getting food).

Outside of such areas, I'm still inclined to use an ursack with an odorproof liner, but it really depends on when and where, and of course one can also be concerned about rodents and racoons and such.

Be prepared for lots of authoritative and/or strongly felt responses on this one. Bottom line for me is the somewhat awkward truth that "sleeping with food works fine most times and places, but it's best in most times and places to protect against bears getting your food anyway".