HOOKSETT, N.H. - Republican Ted Cruz says government can only do so much to battle "an epidemic" of addiction that has affected lives and families, including his own.

He says in New Hampshire Thursday that, "it's not going to be the government that solves this," and that "people have to make personal transformations."

He spent the first 18 minutes of his remarks solemnly describing his family's personal struggle with addiction and alcoholism.

Cruz described his father as "a drunk" who ultimately stopped drinking after embracing Christian values. His older sister, Miriam Cruz, died of a drug overdose in 2011, after years of family efforts to get her on the right track.