Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken some heat for his views on health, but many come from personal experience. In September 1983, as a 29-year-old graduate of law school, his heroin addiction had become so severe that he got sick on a flight to South Dakota. When medics arrived at the airport to take care of him, heroin was found in his luggage.

Two days later, he checked into a rehab center in New Jersey for five months. He later pleaded guilty to possessing a small amount of heroin and served two years of probation that included rehab and volunteering with the Natural Resources Defense Council. He's been clean ever since, according to the New York Times .

Kennedy credits 12-step programs with saving his life, attending up to nine meetings a week when h

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