Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel and other state officials Wednesday talked about how counties across the state could use money they are set to receive from a national $1.07 billion opioid settlement lawsuit.

Butler County is slated to receive $9.5 million over about 18 years through a settlement reached between Pennsylvania and major pharmaceutical distributors over the companies’ roles in creating and fueling the nationwide opioid crisis.

During a virtual meeting that also included Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Boozel said the money individual counties will receive from the settlement could be crucial in funding local agencies that can curb problems with drug addiction. He said he hopes to open communication with Butler County organizations to find the best use of the $9.5 million the county is supposed to receive over 18 years.

“My goal is to work with fellow commissioners but also with the criminal justice advisory board, children and youth services advisory board, and aging advisory along with our emergency service providers,” said Boozel, who is also board chairman of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. “There are so many people impacted that if we only work with a single entity, we would be siloed.”

Pennsylvania is slated to receive up to $1.07 billion from the nationwide $26 billion agreement with Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson.

According to the settlement, the funds can be used for myriad purposes, such as distributing and training in the use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses; distribution, education, awareness training and other support services for medication-assisted treatment; and prevention programs, including drug disposal, media campaigns and evidence-based programs in schools.

Boozel said Butler County has set up a trust fund that will house that money as well as any more that comes in from similar lawsuits in the future.

The county will form a committee to oversee that trust fund, which has yet to meet but will manage the money and disseminate it to municipalities, organizations and programs that are fighting addiction.

Boozel said Butler, Adams Township, Cranberry Township and Middlesex Township also signed off on the lawsuit and will take part in funding talks, because they are municipalities with a population of at least 10,000 people.

“I want to make sure everyone is included who has any stake in the game,” Boozel said.

During the webinar, Stanley Papademetriou, executive director of the Council on Chemical Abuse in Berks County, said that a good use of the funds could be adding programs to counties that help fight addiction.

“This has to stay in the lane that it was intended for,” Papademetriou said. “What we are really excited about is we're able to extend new programming.“

Boozel said he hopes to include in conversations about the money organizations that aid people in recovery — and possibly the people in recovery as well — in order to understand where funds can best be utilized. He said on the webinar that distributing naloxone will likely be a priority.

Boozel also emphasized that this money isn’t a replacement for federal and state funds that could be spent fighting addiction, but rather a needed supplement.

“We've already got the problem we have been trying to solve with limited resources. We have had to get creative, and that's not a bad thing, but we are already under the gun,” he said. “The opioid epidemic didn't go away because of the pandemic.”