Demon Copperhead exposes the disastrous impact of the opioid epidemic in America. Though Lee County is in Virginia, it is demographically and culturally more similar to the neighboring state of West Virginia, also known as the epicenter of the opioid epidemic.

In 1996, a pharmaceutical company called Purdue Pharma developed a potent new medication it claimed could cure people’s chronic and acute pain without becoming addictive. OxyContin, the Purdue drug, is an opioid that dulls pain faster and more reliably than morphine. Purdue marketed its drug to the FDA and medical establishment as a cure-all and researched which places in America the drug would sell best in. Appalachia became a prime target due to the number of residents with coal mine-related injuries; many doctors were already prescribing various pain and antidepression medications.

As a result of Purdue’s impressive marketing campaign, it took years for the nation’s opinions about OxyContin to reverse. Communities discovered that rates of drug overdose were going up in alarming ways. When OxyContin prescriptions ran out, many patients ended up turning to heroin. It became clear that Purdue had lied about the non-addictive nature of OxyContin: In fact, OxyContin is a shockingly addictive drug, requiring higher dosages the longer one uses it.