Multiple counties in Pennsylvania. Two law firms. 23 pharmaceutical companies. Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman knows this is going to be a long fight.

The Greene County government, along with several others, is embarking on a lawsuit, pursuing action against companies for over-distributing opioid narcotics to the market.

“This has to open companies’ eyes,” said Zimmerman. “The county is no longer going to sit back and watch them do this.”

Zimmerman was recently approached by a state representative, who mentioned that certain law firms were reaching out to local governments to push the issue. He spoke to the law firms, including one in Pittsburgh and one located in New York, and discussed the action with the Board of Commissioners.

“It’s one way to stop the overflowing of the market with opioids, so, jointly, we decided to follow the suit,” said Zimmerman. “[We discussed] the ins and outs, and as a group, we decided to do something from our end.”

Zimmerman said the flooding of the market with prescription painkillers has been the primary catalyst for the opioid epidemic across the country.

“Everybody has seen the ’60 Minutes’ stuff and [knows] what’s going on,” he said. “They’re overloading the market just to line their pockets.”

Washington County was the first to set the process in motion, when, according to the Observer-Reporter, commissioners unanimously voted to file a lawsuit. The reasoning behind it: to recover the monetary burden placed on taxpayers, as the county accumulates costs associated with the health crisis.

Since Washington County took that first step, Greene County and several others counties in Pennsylvania have followed.

“Other counties are going to join in too,” Zimmerman said. “To impact the flow of these–maybe not ‘illegal’ drugs, but still. They just see what kind of money they can make.”

Zimmerman is confident that while the process will be long, they will emerge successful.

“I don’t think [the companies] have any [arguments],” he said. “When the day’s over, they don’t really have anything to stand on.”

Other than financial compensation, Zimmerman said the real objective of the lawsuits are to incite long-term change in the way the pharmaceutical companies conduct business and the way that doctors prescribe medications.

“I had some surgery and [the doctor] gave me OxyContin,” Zimmerman said, as an example. “I told them to just give me a couple, and they gave me a 30-day supply. I did not take one one of them. So, you see, I told them I didn’t want them, and yet, they prescribe that [amount]. I’m sure there’s a lot of money exchanged in this process.”

Zimmerman compared the lawsuit to the famous suits against the tobacco industry in the early 2000s under consumer protection and antitrust laws. And just like the long, ominous fight against big tobacco, Zimmerman said they are not expecting immediate results; just long-lasting, conclusive change.

“We know this is going to be a long, drawn out suit,” Zimmerman said.