There is an old story you may have heard about two new immigrants on Ellis Island. One, on entering the US threw his hands in the air, shouting, "I'm free! I'm free!"
When he threw his hands in the air, he accidentally hit the other immigrant in the nose, which, of course, brought some cries of protest.
"If I can't throw my arms around, what good is it to be free?" the first immigrant asked.
"Well, your freedom ends where my nose begins," answered the other.
That's it in a nutshell. You're freedom ends where my nose begins. So long as your freedom doesn't impinge on mine, then you should be free to do as you please.
If you like to drink or do drugs, that doesn't impinge on my freedom, even though I know it's a bad decision. If you get behind the wheel of a car and drive down my street, that impinges on my freedom.
There is no such thing as total freedom. Absence of any rules at all is anarchism, in which only the very strongest are free at all.
