why wont they make opiate medications over the counter in the USA

when opiates were sold over the counter (laudanum, tincture of opium etc) and people used it to dose their children (and adults) against the pain of toothache (then a very serious problem) too many children - as well as numerous adults - died.

Nowadays such medicaments are controlled very tightly. But one has to say that the US really overreacts, especially in being so up in arms about pain relief. The gateway theory now has had a fair bit of substantiation; with its acceptance comes the knowledge that pain, if properly and aggressively treated, will be less intense and of shorter duration.

So the injunctions against "drug use" actually work very much against pain management.

KEEP IN MIND: one's brain produces natural opiates, named endorphines. these help mediate pain. their problem, however, is that not every brain is equally efficient in making sufficient high-quality endorphines thus giving variable levels of pain control. (running distance is a good method of spurring the brain into this action)

And not everyone reacts in like manner to the same dose of an opiate. Some people are slow metabolizers, some fast, with varying effects.