I agree with you, but consider this. If you use heroin, I don't care - not my problem. However, it is my right not to have to pay for health problems or joblessness you might incur due to use; I have every right to insist you stay off the road if your incapacitation may cause me or anyone I care about harm; if I were your employer I would have every right to insist that your use did not affect job performance.
I also agree with you about free speech, but we have a problem there - what are the limits. I personally find flag burning and dishonoring national traditions offensive; however, those are apparently acceptable. I find sexual and racial remarks offensive, and in some instances those are considered workplace harassment or hate offenses. So while someone may not tell a story or joke with sexual connotation, gay people are free to demonstrate their "pride" with indifference to others. That is a very marked contradiction, which I think has a lot to do with liberalism and liberals' belief that only they know what is "right" and the willingness to force others to accept. Funny how "acceptance" and "rights" can be a one way thing. A "quote for the day" that I've always remembered from military training a long time ago went something like "To earn respect, you have to show respect." Something a lot of people need to learn.
Freedom has an attached responsibility to respect others, and that is something people today have a problem remembering. Some laws are laws because some people have too little respect for others. Many of us - including you and me - don't agree with some of those laws; we might even agree about the responsibility attached to freedom.