Congressman Chris Smith of Robbinsville, NJ visited a Mercerville, NJ elementary school this week to speak about his experiences in public office and events in Washington, DC. He was invited by student Brian Marion, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Sorrows School on the East State Street Extension, to address about 100 middle school-age students. Smith discussed numerous issues, including his faith, recent cases of international child abduction, Lyme disease, healthcare, the federal law-making process, pro-life issues and other topics. He enjoyed a robust exchange via a question-and-answer session.
    "These are bright kids with good questions," Smith said. "We even discussed budget cuts, national debt and the Mexican drug cartels. I took the opportunity to caution them that using drugs like marijuana, heroin and cocaine leads to nowhere, and that the demand for illegal drugs here in our country causes a lot of pain and suffering in places that are plagued with producers of drugs like in Columbia or traffickers of drugs like Mexico. In those countries police and law enforcement officers are on the front lines in a virtual war that is claiming many lives."