Island towns are considering joining multi-district litigation to fight prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors.

“This is a problem that really we are all dealing with, and the expenses have filtered down to municipalities,” said Lauren Goldberg, an attorney with the firm KP Law, who briefed West Tisbury selectmen on the case Thursday evening. “You speak to firefighters, and they will tell you that before they used to respond to fires. Now, they respond to overdoses.”

Representatives from other towns including Chilmark selectman Jim Malkin, Chilmark town administrator Tim Carroll, Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison, Aquinnah selectman Jim Newman, and Oak Bluffs selectman Michael Santoro were also at the meeting.

Ms. Goldberg said about 75 municipalities in the commonwealth and hundreds of municipalities in other states had already joined the lawsuit, which is being litigated in a federal court in Ohio. The complaint alleges that opioid manufacturers and distributors knew the substances were addictive and chose to aggressively market them as safe anyway, creating an addiction cycle that benefitted their business. It also alleges the companies failed to report suspicious orders of the drugs.

Plaintiffs in the case argue that municipalities have born the burden of significant costs from the opioid crisis, and those costs are not limited to loss of life from overdoses. Attorneys point to education expenses, the cost of the overdose reversal drug Narcan, costs associated with welfare services for children of addicts, and the cost of addiction task forces as examples of damages.

Ms. Goldberg said joining the lawsuit would cost towns nothing, and she was optimistic about winning a settlement from the pharmaceutical companies.

“It is anticipated that there will be two types of recovery: one going back for what you’ve spent, and one looking forward, a kind of fund to pay for education, ongoing public safety and enforcement costs, and treatment costs,” she said.

Joining the case would also make a powerful political statement, she said.

She said if the complaint is unsuccessful, towns would not be responsible for expenses. The only potential cost to towns would be associated with compiling data for the case.

After Ms. Goldberg outlined the case for about 30 minutes, selectmen had questions. West Tisbury chairman Skipper Manter was curious why the case targeted the pharmaceutical companies rather than the doctors who write prescriptions for opioids or the insurance companies who pay for the prescriptions.

“Sometimes I don’t think you’re going after the doctors hard enough,” he said. “I think that’s where most of the focus needs to be,” he said.

West Tisbury selectman Cynthia Mitchell asked how settlement funds for future expenses would be distributed among towns. Ms. Goldberg said that formula was yet to be formally determined.

The other town representatives had multiple questions for Ms. Goldberg as well, but conversation about the issue was cut short because the room at the Howes House was needed for another meeting.

In other business, selectmen revisited the possibility of creating a so-called host community agreement with the Island’s first medical marijuana dispensary before it opens for business. Other towns in the commonwealth have used such agreements to require dispensaries to pay thousands of dollars in extra fees each year, citing extra law enforcement and public health expenses associated with marijuana.

Selectmen seemed to prefer to wait and see what kind of costs might arise before charging the dispensary in a host agreement.

“It’s very hard to put a finger on something that doesn’t exist yet,” said Mr. Manter. “I don’t see this particular business putting any more financial burden on our existing resources than any other business.”

“There’s one difference,” said town attorney Ron Rappaport. “We couldn’t tax any other business because it would violate Massachusetts law. But Massachusetts law says that we can tax this business.”

Geoff Rose, owner of the medical marijuana facility in question, attended the meeting and disputed whether host community agreements are currently required, citing Department of Public Health regulations. Selectmen said the agreements are allowed whether they are required or not.

Given the uncertainty about exactly what kind of costs could arise related to the business, selectmen asked Mr. Rappaport to draft an agreement that charges a modest fee for the first year and allows for review each year.