Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday he took LSD when he was 15 years old because he thought he might be able to see dinosaurs.
Kennedy recounted the story of the first time he took LSD, a choice which sent him down a path to heroin addiction, during an addiction summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Kennedy has a family history of addiction, which dissuaded him from trying coffee up until that point in his life.
In a then-recent edition of Kennedy’s favorite comic book, “Turak Son of Stone,” the protagonists had taken a psychedelic drug and seen dinosaurs. When an acquaintance offered him a tab of the infamous psychedelic drug, Kennedy remembered the comic book and decided to take the drug.
“I had a deep interest in paleontology,” Kennedy told the crowd, which laughed at the remark.
“I said to the guy, ‘If I take that, will I see dinosaurs?’ He said, ‘you might,’” Kennedy told the crowd at HMP Global’s Rx and Illicit Drug Summit 2025.
RFK Jr. recounts the wild story of the first time he took LSD, telling the Nashville crowd at HMP Global’s RX and Illicit Drug Summit that he thought he would be able to see dinosaurs.
“I was really into paleontology.”
Lmfao pic.twitter.com/s5HJO0Uu4Z
— Rob (@RobMcGravytrain) April 24, 2025
While Kennedy described the experience as “wonderful,” he also said he regretted it because he broke a promise to himself to not take drugs. The next day, to soothe the comedown effects of the LSD, Kennedy Jr. tried methamphetamine. Eventually, he discovered heroin, which he told the crowd he was addicted to until he turned 28. (RELATED: RFK Jr. Confesses To Dumping Dead Bear Cub In Central Park After Abandoning Plan To Harvest It Nearly 10 Years Ago)
Kennedy has been quite open about his history of drug use, often telling interviewers about his experience in 12-step recovery programs. He has been in drug and alcohol recovery for over 40 years, he often tells media outlets.
‼️RFK Jr.‼️ Is honestly about his past. He was a heroin addict for 14 years.
Our past makes us who we are in the present.
That’s why I am who I am today. pic.twitter.com/y1g0WgbxRU
— (Jason) Stands For Truth (@TrueJMitchell) November 22, 2024
Kennedy’s experiences with drugs could color the policy directions of his agency. While running an independent bid to become president in 2024, Kennedy accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of suppressing research on psychedelic drugs.
He also touted psychedelic plants like ayahuasca, a South American psychedelic drink, as a potential cure for depression during a 2023 interview with author Joe Polish.
“My mind is open to the idea that there may be things that I don’t know about and that people ought to have the freedom and liberty to experience things,” he told Polish.
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