Smith denies ever saying Elian is being drugged

CONCORD, N.H. -- Senator Bob Smith denied yesterday that he said Elian Gonzalez is being drugged as part of a "reeducation" effort to prepare him to return to Cuba.

His office said comments he made Sunday that strongly suggested Elian was being drugged were taken out of context. The office said Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, is concerned that drugs including tranquilizers were taken by the Customs Service from Elian's pediatrician when she arrived in the United States to visit the boy.

But spokeswoman Lisa Harrison denied that Smith ever said the 6-year-old is being drugged while he waits at a government compound in Maryland for the courts to decide his future.

"He never, ever, ever said that," Harrison said.

The Union Leader of Manchester and The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass., covered Smith's talk with 30 voters Sunday in Salem.

"They've already found tranquilizer drugs with the doctors. I think you can reasonably assume that on May 11 the little kid is going to come say `I want to go back to Cuba,' " The Union Leader quoted Smith as saying.

Harrison and Karen Hickey, another Smith spokeswoman, said the quotation left out things Smith said between those two sentences.

"At this point, we're standing by our reporting," said the paper's executive editor, Charles Perkins yesterday.

The Eagle-Tribune did not quote Smith directly on the issue, but said Smith "believes Elian will be influenced - partly by `tranquilizers' used by doctors treating him - into saying he wants to go back." New Hampshire Editor Jeff McMenemy said his paper stood by its report.

Smith also called the Maryland compound "a concentration camp" Sunday.

"Right now, this little boy is in a concentration camp on American soil," he said.

Hickey said yesterday that Smith meant "reeducation camp" when he said "concentration camp." She said he has been using "reeducation camp" consistently in speeches, including the one Sunday. "I think he just misspoke."