I'm sorry that you have such a poor education in history and understanding of past times, but the facts are that drugs did not become illegal until AFTER they became a problem. For the prior several hundred years, nobody was bringing cocaine or opium into the country in any large quantities. That was starting to change around the 1880s. Sure, morphine, opium and cocaine were available, but not in large quantities. Not in the Ton quantities at which they were shipped into China, but China didn't start out with those quantities. They started out small.
Before you can have a market, you have to have a demand, and with no huge demand, there was no huge market. (I think it's Silly that I should have to explain this stuff to a conservative, and supposedly someone who understand supply/demand, and free markets.)
1900 - Opium, morphine and cocaine in many patent medicines leads to addiction and death. Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup kills many children each year due to overdosing on morphine. Morphine is the syrup’s primary ingredient but it is not listed on the label.
There are a host of sources on the web which would explain all of this to you, but some how I don't think you want to look at them. You have your beliefs, and they are dearer to you than the truth, i'll wager.
Even the silliest drug warriors are going to have a difficult time swallowing that one.
And never let it be said that you are not one of the silliest drug warriors. Perhaps some soothing syrup for children might help you swallow it?