In the mid-1990s, a perfect storm began brewing in the United States. A storm that, over the following decades, would spiral into the worst drug overdose epidemic in the country’s history.  The broad outline of this crisis is well-known: A dramatic rise in prescription opioids, followed by expanded heroin use and, more recently, synthetic opioids like fentanyl. But beneath those waves lie structural, controlling, social and commercial currents that set the stage.