Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a tough look again on the excessive depths of his previous drug use.
The present Secretary of Well being and Human Companies, 72, made the stunning revelation in the course of the Wednesday, February 12, episode of the “This Previous Weekend With Theo Von” podcast that he used to “snort cocaine off rest room seats” whereas discussing his option to attend in-person habit assist group conferences in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We nonetheless did my conferences every single day throughout COVID,” Kennedy advised host Theo Von within the podcast episode. “It was form of a pirate group. For me, I mentioned this after we got here in, ‘I don’t care what occurs. I’m going to a gathering on a regular basis.’”
He then quipped, “I’m not petrified of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of bathroom seats. I do know this illness (habit) will kill me. If I don’t deal with it, which for me means going to conferences on a regular basis, it’s simply unhealthy for my life. For me, it was simply survival.”
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Kennedy clarified that he’d been in restoration for “43 years” and first met Von after they attended the identical habit assist group.
His feedback on “This Previous Weekend” have been removed from the primary time Kennedy has made startling claims about his previous drug use. He alleged on the “Shawn Ryan Present” podcast in June 2024 that heroin really improved his educational efficiency within the Nineteen Seventies.
“I did very, very poorly at school, till I began doing narcotics,” he claimed. “Then I went to the highest of my class as a result of my thoughts was so stressed and turbulent and I couldn’t sit nonetheless. … It labored for me. And if it nonetheless labored, I’d nonetheless be doing it.”
In that very same interview, Kennedy described habit as a “compulsion” that finally “hollows out your entire life.”
The Trump administration official delved into his historical past with habit throughout a speech on the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Might 2025. Per Kennedy, he battled habit for 14 years earlier than checking right into a 12-step restoration program in 1983.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in February 2026.
Heather Diehl/Getty PhotographsHe recalled an early drug expertise at age 15 when he took LSD at a celebration and endured “very, very intense hallucinations.” The subsequent morning, Kennedy felt depressing for breaking a pledge he’d made at college to by no means drink or do medicine.
“Within the morning, I used to be remorseful,” he remembered. “I used to be kicking myself and saying, ‘You swore you’ll by no means do that, you broke your dedication to your self.’ I swore to myself (that) I might by no means take medicine once more.”
Nonetheless, Kennedy had many extra experiences with medicine all through his teenage years. The politician mentioned he used to really feel as if there was a “gap” inside him that he full of medicine.
“Each addict feels that method in a technique or one other — that they’ve to repair what’s incorrect with them, and the one factor that works are medicine,” he mentioned. “And so threats that you simply would possibly die, that you simply’re going to destroy your life are fully meaningless.”
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Kennedy influences the administration’s habit coverage as a part of his job heading up the Division of Well being and Human Companies, although he has confronted criticism for his insurance policies on public well being, weight problems and vaccine laws. Dietary specialists just lately took situation with Kennedy’s new “inverted meals pyramid” putting high-quality proteins, wholesome fat, and entire greens on the high and inspiring extra consumption of meats, dairy and eggs.
One one that is seemingly not following Kennedy’s dietary recommendation is President Donald Trump. Kennedy claimed on “The Katie Miller Podcast” in January that Trump has “probably the most unhinged consuming habits” he’d ever seen.
“You already know, the fascinating factor concerning the president is that he eats actually unhealthy meals, which is McDonald’s. After which, you understand, sweet and Weight-reduction plan Coke. However he drinks the Weight-reduction plan Coke always,” he admitted.
Kennedy then quipped, “(Trump) has the structure of a deity. I don’t know the way he’s alive, however he’s.”