BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. – Board Chairman Ed Kinowski was among the supervisors in Saratoga County who voted last week to hire a law firm and join a lawsuit against the manufacturers of opiates like hydrocodone and oxycontin.

"This problem that we have with opioids and what it is doing with our young, quite frankly, across the age groups, it is a scourge of our country,” Kinowski said.

The suit claims the drug makers used misleading marketing tactics, despite knowing the drugs could potentially lead to addiction and even death.

"As soon as it hit my desk, I said it is something we have to do and it was unanimous across our Board of Supervisors," Kinowski said.

By joining the lawsuit with other municipalities across the state, Saratoga County is seeking damages to recoup some of the growing costs associated with combatting an ongoing heroin and opioid epidemic at the local level.

"Ultimately, it’s to make sure the manufacturers and distributors are ultimately held responsible because they are the ones that have driven this through their deceptive marketing," Saratoga County Administrator Spencer Hellwig said.

Hellwig says terms of the agreement with the law firm filing the suit prevent the county from discussing exactly how much money they have spent combating the opioid crisis, but he says expenses are up in departments ranging from the sheriff's office and jail to mental health.

"It's substantial enough that it's not a blip on the radar screen," Hellwig said.

"Quite frankly, the disruption that this has caused across the board with our families and above, I don’t know if there is enough money to make repairs of all of that," said Kinowski, who is supervisor in the town of Stillwater.

In the coming weeks, forensic auditors will work to determine exactly how much the epidemic has cost county taxpayers. Regardless of what they find, leaders believe the true cost isn't measured in dollars and cents, but the lives affected.

"I do know it is growing, it is a scourge, and it is growing rather fast and we need to put a stop to it rather quickly," Kinowski said.