The nation's growing opioid addiction epidemic took center stage Monday night during a town-hall meeting hosted by U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright at the Hilltop Community Center in Summit Hill.

Cartwright, a Democrat in his fourth year representing the 17th Congressional District, told an audience of around 20 people many of society's social ills, such as drug addiction, could be aided by more manufacturing jobs, something he hopes to help bring to the area."It doesn't matter what side of the tracks you come from, anyone can fall into addiction," he said.Brett and Sandra Peters, parents to a child who became addicted to heroin and has been clean for the past four years, made the trip to Monday's event from Aquashicola."We talked to our children about drug use," the couple said. "But when you hear stories of people who literally watch relatives die or their friends die from an overdose and they still do heroin after that, no amount of talking is going to solve the problem."While most political debates in the nation's capital end up in gridlock., Cartwright said there does seem to be a bipartisan consensus about over-incarceration.Many areas, he said, have adopted drug courts where judges treat heroin use as a medical issue rather than criminal.Schuylkill County is in the beginning stages of instituting a drug court while there is public pressure to do the same in Carbon County."We're addicted to throwing people in jail," Cartwright said. "I strongly believe that the drug pushers need to be behind bars. The users, however, need rehabilitation. Congress is seeing that this needs to be treated as a medical issue. There is so much gridlock, but that is an area for hope."Summit Hill Councilman David Wargo called for stiffer penalties for suppliers, while Brett Peters said doctors prescribing opiod painkillers need to be regulated.Peters said he was recently prescribed a 30-day supply of Oxycodone following a surgery."I took four Ibuprofen for two days and I was fine," Peters. "I'm not superman, we just over-prescribe. Opioids were meant for terminally ill cancer patients."Cartwright said along with pushing for increased availability of Naloxone, which can treat a narcotic overdose, the Federal government can look at better guidelines for painkiller prescriptions.On other issues, Linda Christman, Towamensing Township resident, asked Cartwright if Congress would pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement with 11 other countries; Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru."I read it and in the chapter on labor it has the word 'may' 24 times in seven pages," Cartwright said. "It has no teeth right now and needs to change. We have to have trade, but when you have a trade agreement with no restrictions, you stand to undo everything we went through to get our fair labor rules. The rush for Pacific Rim trade can't be so important that we jeopardize our values."Questioned on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's statement that she was going to put coal miners out of business, Cartwright said Clinton actually has a plan, through clean energy opportunities, to pump money into coal mining regions.'Her commitment to the coal regions is actually one of the top reasons I endorsed Hillary," he said.When it comes to fracking, Cartwright said it needs to be properly regulated."It is a good bridge until we get to a point, where sustainable energy carries the day," he said.The meeting began with Cartwright explaining how his office can help constituents with issues pertaining to veterans and military personnel, Internal Revenue Service and taxes, citizenship and immigration, the U.S. Department of State, social security, Medicare, economic development and Federal grants.