Inside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Past With Drug Addiction and What He’s Said About it

As the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump administration, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has faced intense scrutiny for a number of reasons, including his lengthy past with drug addiction.

RFK Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Senator and former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, has a long history of drug addiction that dates back over 40 years. He has discussed the topic multiple times throughout his life, but the issue has garnered renewed attention following his position as a member of Trump’s cabinet.

In January 2025, he reportedly stated that he “was a heroin addict for 14 years,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, during a 2024 appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show amidst his failed presidential run, he revealed that his drug use helped him succeed in school.

"I did very, very poorly in school, until I started doing narcotics," RFK said, per PEOPLE. "Then I went to the top of my class because my mind was so restless and turbulent, and I could not sit still. It worked for me, and if it still worked, I'd still be doing it."

At the age of 16, he encountered his first brush with the law when he was arrested for marijuana possession shortly after the death of his father, per The Associated Press.

In September 1983, RFK was arrested, charged, and convicted of heroin possession in Rapid City, S.D., per United Press International. Less than a year later, in February 1984, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of heroin and was sentenced to two years of probation and community service, according to The New York Times. Following his arrest, he entered a drug rehab facility.

In a blistering open letter in February 2025 to object to RFK's confirmation as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, his cousin, Caroline Kennedy, slammed him for introducing fellow family members to drugs.

”I watched his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction,” Caroline wrote. “His basement, his garage, and his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks. It was often a perverse scene of violence and despair.”

Caroline continued, noting that she acknowledged that RFK had made the steps to end his drug use but that the effects still haunt her family. “Siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness, and death while Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life,” Caroline’s letter read.

In his new role in the Trump administration, RFK’s proclamation that he has ways to fix the drug addiction crisis in the U.S. was met with skepticism, per NPR.