I think many of the laws on prostitution, drugs etc, are there because our the gov. is "for the people by the people." if the majority of americans wanted them to be legal, then the politicians would vote in favor of it. There are a ton of organizations out there who want to legalize 'maryjane', but no or few politicians are willing to pick up that because it would be political suicide.

church should not equal state and I don't think they do, however there is a clear link between what is/not legal due to the moral appetite of americans and who/how the government is ran.

The interesting issue I see currently is that of same-sex marriage. this is a hot moral issue for a lot of folks, and politicians are trying to figure out what the people really want since the courts have already ruled.