Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once claimed that using narcotics made him do better in school.
In the midst of his presidential campaign, the independent candidate discussed his history of drug use and addiction during a July appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast.
Kennedy recalled having his first encounters with drugs the summer after his father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated during his Democratic campaign for president in 1968.
After quickly progressing from recreational LSD to regular use of cocaine and heroin, Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services said, he found that being under the influence actually improved his studies.
“I did very, very poorly in school until I started doing narcotics,” he said on the podcast. “Then I went to the top of my class because my mind was so restless and turbulent and I could not sit still.”
Noting he’d likely be diagnosed with ADHD these days, Kennedy said he looks back at his drug use as a form of self-medicating.
“Suddenly I could sit still, and I could read and I could concentrate,” he told Ryan. “I could listen to what people were saying, and things made sense to me.”
Kennedy, who has come to embrace the Trump-esque motto of “Make America healthy again,” went on to say he wrote books and attended law school during the height of his heroin use.
“It worked for me,” Kennedy said of his habit. “And if it still worked, I’d still be doing it, but it didn’t.”
He also spoke about getting sober after being arrested for heroin possession in 1983.
“It hollows out your whole life. You have a one-dimensional life,” he said of addiction. “It was what I would describe as a bundle of appetites that was a full-time job to feed them.”
In the past, Kennedy has said tackling America’s addiction problem should be a priority.
During his presidential campaign, the outspoken vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theory endorser floated one very novel way to help people overcome their substance abuse issues.
In July, he proposed opening rural “wellness farms” for people to seek out as rehabilitation centers.
“There won’t be any cellphones there. There won’t be any screens,” Kennedy said during a town hall hosted by the “Latino Conservative” podcast. “We’re going to re-parent people, restore this connection to community.”