For the next month members of the state’s General Assembly will be traveling the commonwealth and gathering testimony on the opioid overdose and addiction epidemic that has gripped Pennsylvania for far too long.

In recent months and years state officials have tried in various ways to blunt the rise of overdose deaths: the overdose drug Narcan was made available to emergency services, and then at every public high school, and then any resident; the state created a prescription drug monitoring program; the Department of Corrections launched a pilot program to help inmates avoid relapses. Nothing has seemed to work.

Some lawmakers, like Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Lincoln, say a new approach is needed. Punishing addicts isn’t working, Gainey said last week; the state needs to change the way it deals with substances like heroin and prescription opioids.

Gainey’s take on this issue is not new or novel. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, for example, has been holding hearings on the state’s heroin/opioid crisis since 2014. Earlier this year the center marked more than 50 hours of testimony on the heroin epidemic.

According to the center’s website, the testimony gathered at those hearings found three recurrent needs: increased treatment options for addicts, more education for the public on the dangers of opioid abuse, and help for law enforcement agencies working to eradicate heroin from communities.

What we know so far about these bipartisan hearings seems promising. The policy committees of both caucuses will be hearing from educators, law enforcement officials, treatment experts and members of the health care community.

The scope is also encouraging. Monday’s hearing in Venango County will be followed up by two more in Western Pennsylvania — in Pittsburgh today and Westmoreland County on Wednesday — before the group moves to eastern Pennsylvania and, on Sept. 1, ends with a final hearing in York County. In all, eight hearings are scheduled.

According to a 2015 report released by the Trust for America’s Health, Pennsylvania leads the nation in drug overdose deaths among young adult men. Overdose deaths in our state — more than seven each day, on average — are now more frequent than fatal traffic accidents.

In late June, when members of the House and Gov. Tom Wolf stood together and called a special session to address this crisis, it was an indication that even our fractious leaders understood the gravity of the crisis facing Pennsylvania.

These hearings are another nod in that direction, but ultimately lawmakers’ legacy will be judged on what is done with the information that is gathered.