Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), says he had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.
Unfortunately, he said that LSD trip led him to later take methamphetamine and, ultimately, go through a decade-long battle with heroin addiction.
At the 2025 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville on Thursday, Kennedy spoke candidly about his own journey with certain drugs, offering a window into the HHS secretary’s perspective on substance use as he assumes a critical health and drug policy role in the Trump administration.
Kennedy said he was straight-edge up until he was 15, when he went to a party that became a “melee” and met a person who offered him LSD as they hitchhiked home.
“I would never have taken it,” he said. But in his town, there was a store kids flocked to every week for comic books—and in one of his favorite series, Turok: Son of Stone, the characters took “some kind of hallucinogen” like mescaline and they saw dinosaurs.
Kennedy said he “had a deep interest in paleontology” at the time, and the person who gave him the LSD said it was possible he could see dinosaurs, too.
“I ended up taking it, and I had this wonderful experience of very, very intense hallucinations,” he said. “And in the morning, I was remorseful, and I was kicking myself and saying, ‘You swore you would never do this. You broke your commitment to yourself.’ And I swore to myself I would never take drugs again.”
That personal pledge didn’t last long, however, Kennedy said. Because as he “crashed from the acid” and subsequently met “some older boys in the woods” by his house, they advised him that the come-down would be easier if he took methamphetamine, which he did.
“They said, ‘Try some of this.’ And it was a line of crystal meth,” he said. “And I took it, and all my problems went away—just evaporated. I felt better than I ever felt in my life.”
That feeling was fleeting, however, as Kennedy said that, not long after that experience, he tried heroin and developed a substance misuse issue with the drug “for the next 14 years.”
Kennedy has been transparent about his personal history with substance misuse, including during his time running for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination before he switched to independent and then later joined Trump’s team and became HHS secretary.
But the details of his psychedelics experience are notable. While he’s been largely silent on the issue in his capacity as the leading federal health official, he previously campaigned on a plan to legalize marijuana and certain psychedelics, proposing to use tax revenue from the sales of substances such as psilocybin to support drug misuse treatment.
Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.
Author Michael Pollan, however, said that Kennedy’s placement as HHS secretary could prove “very dangerous” to the psychedelics movement because he was concerned that the official might pursue federal reform in a way that delegitimizes the science behind substances such as psilocybin.
By contrast, Rick Perry—a former governor of Texas who also served in the first Trump administration—said the president’s choices for key health policy positions, including Kennedy, are a “great gift” for the psychedelics reform movement, particularly as it concerns access to ibogaine as a treatment option for serious mental health conditions.
Separately, Kennedy has thrown some advocates off guard since being confirmed by the Senate, saying at one point that he’s “worried about” the normalization of high-potency marijuana and that he feels its use can have “really catastrophic impacts” on people—but that state-level legalization can facilitate research into its harms and benefits.
“Because of the legalization of recreational marijuana in 25 states, we have now a capacity to really study it and to compare it to states,” he said. “We need to do studies. We need to figure it out, and then we need to we need to implement policies to address” any health concerns.
Of course, HHS has already completed a comprehensive scientific study into cannabis that led the agency under the Biden administration to recommend moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
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[PRESS RELEASE] – VANCOUVER, Wash., July 29, 2025 –RollPros, the industry leader in pre-roll joint automation technology, announced the launch of the Blackbird XXL, the first and only commercial machine that automates the rolling of full-size blunts. The release of the Blackbird XXL marks a significant milestone for the cannabis industry, offering operators a solution to meet growing demand for premium, large-format pre-roll products with precision, speed and consistency.
RollProsUnlike traditional cone-stuffing machines, the Blackbird XXL rolls blunts the way skilled hands do, delivering a slow-burning, hand-crafted-style product without relying on pre-made cones. This launch builds on the success of RollPros’ flagship product, the Blackbird, the industry’s first automated joint rolling machine, which has rolled over 100 million joints to date and is trusted by operators in legal markets across North America. That proven performance is now coming to the blunt category, delivering the same level of scale, consistency and craftsmanship to one of the industry’s fastest-growing product categories.
“The original Blackbird set the standard for cone-free joint automation, and the Blackbird XXL pushes that boundary even further into the premium blunt space,” RollPros founder and CEO Kyle Loucks said. “This machine was engineered specifically for brands looking to scale up blunt production without sacrificing quality, consistency or creative control.”
The Blackbird XXL accommodates weights ranging from 1.25 to 2.5 grams, with a 1.75-to-2.25-gram sweet spot, and supports a range of crutch types and sizes, including paper, glass and ceramic. Operators can use hemp wraps up to 50gsm, or rice or wood pulp papers as thin as 13gsm, with wider roll widths being fully supported. Output rates reach up to 850 units per hour with standard paper and approximately 250 per hour using traditional blunt-thickness paper, depending on material consistency.
In addition to its compaction and rolling capabilities, the Blackbird XXL features the new RingWrap feature, a built-in tip banding mechanism similar to what is commonly seen on cigars. This provides a new branding opportunity that stands out in retail environments and adds a premium, finished look to the product. Crutch depth is variable, and options include “full reveal,” “no reveal,” or hybrid styles, offering flexibility to create any desired look.
For operators producing infused products, premium blunt lines or glass-tipped SKUs, the Blackbird XXL provides a scalable, high-performance solution that meets the expectations of both consumers and regulators.
“We built the Blackbird to eliminate the tradeoff between scale and quality. With the XXL, we’re bringing that same innovation to blunts,” Loucks said. “It’s a machine for operators who care about how their products perform and who are ready to grow without cutting corners.”
The first production units of the Blackbird XXL will begin shipping in mid-September. Pre-orders are now open.
To learn more or reserve a unit, visit rollpros.com.
I was on the side of the stage as he was preparing to perform. Thanks to a brief stint as a touring musician that got me backstage access to Ozzfest in 2002, I had the privilege of watching the inner workings of that fine-tuned music festival from a vantage point few will ever know.
To be clear, I didn’t actually “meet” Ozzy. He just walked next to me as I stood starstruck. Something that doesn’t happen to me often, by the way. He looked back and waved to me. I think he clearly recognized my excitement and threw me a bone. I suppose this was just part of his life, though: acknowledging his fans without a fuss or any sense of self-importance. And I think that’s one of the reasons so many people loved Ozzy. It’s one thing to be a music legend. It’s another thing to be a music legend while also just being a kind and decent person who loved his fans as much as we loved him. And he vocalized that love, which is why I think his death hit us all so hard.
Memorializing Ozzy with Mushrooms
It’s hard to believe that it was 26 years ago when Ozzy graced these pages with an interview. An interview, by the way, that showed Ozzy’s true personality: not an arrogant “Rock God” or untouchable celebrity, but a genuinely funny, approachable, and gracious man. Something that I think all of his fans already knew, but it was nice to see that person break proverbial bread with High Times.
Last week, Kyle Rosner published a beautiful piece highlighting Ozzy’s life, and of course, his love of our favorite plant. But today, I want to share with you something that’s been on my mind since Ozzy went gently into that good night.
Given Ozzy’s hardcore partying days and extreme drug use – which was likely enough to kill a Tsavo Lion – it’s hard to believe that the thing that did him in was Parkinson’s Disease: a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that, after being identified as a real medical condition in 1817, still has no cure. Which is unfortunate, given that around 10 million people across the globe are currently living with this crippling condition.
To be sure, there are a number of pharmaceutical treatments that can help manage some of the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease – but no actual cure.
What may interest you, however, is that there is also growing evidence to suggest that psilocybin – the “special sauce” in magic mushrooms – could also help treat those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.
According to a clinical trial conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, Parkinson’s Disease patients who experience debilitating mood dysfunction in addition to their movement impairments (and didn’t respond well to other medications) found relief with psilocybin.
Participants of the study that were given psilocybin, “experienced clinically significant improvements in mood, cognition, and motor function that lasted for weeks after the drug was out of their systems.” This is not trivial.
Of course, who knows if a specialized psilocybin treatment would’ve helped Ozzy live a longer, and less painful life in his later years? But certainly, we’re excited to see this amazing tryptamine alkaloid potentially offer an effective treatment for those desperately seeking relief from this horrible disease.
Indeed, this is just more evidence that mushrooms are medicine and should be treated as such.
This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before beginning any treatment involving psychedelics or other controlled substances.
Members of the Reading (population: 95,000) city council have approved a municipal ordinance decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession offenses.
The ordinance, which passed by a 5-2 vote on Monday, imposes civil fines rather than criminal penalties for violations involving either the possession or use of up to 30 grams of marijuana. Under state law, marijuana possession is classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by jail time.
Regional NORML coordinator Chris Goldstein spoke before the council in favor of the ordinance, opining that its adoption will save city resources and prevent thousands of low-level arrests. “Decriminalization is well proven, not just in Pennsylvania, but around the country,” he said. “One small arrest can have a huge impact [on people’s lives.]”
Numerous other Pennsylvania cities, including Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, have enacted similar ordinances.
Since 2018, nearly 90,000 Pennsylvanians have been arrested for violating state marijuana laws. Over 85 percent of those arrests were for marijuana possession.
Additional information on municipal decriminalization ordinances is available from NORML.
