[stymaar]

WTF.

This is complete nonsense.

Opioids have never been made legal for recreational purpose. They were sold as painkillers by pharma corporations lying about their addictive effects and promoted through marketing campaign targeting doctors to prescribe them.

I has nothing to do with the topic of recreational drugs.

[Denatonium]

Many opioids, including opiates, used to be OTC. I personally know someone who used to smoke paregoric (camphorated tincture of opium), which was OTC in the US until 1970.

I believe 1970 was also the year when amphetamine (Benzedrine) inhalers stopped being OTC.

[solumunus]

Do you think opioids have been illegal for eternity?

[stymaar]

They are talking about the current opioid crisis, and they are making the story up.