WASHINGTON – Senate confirmation hearings are underway for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). While Kennedy’s appointment would put him in charge of key federal agencies tackling addiction—including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration—his proposed approach to the nation’s overdose crisis is drawing criticism.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Kennedy outlined a sweeping plan to combat the fentanyl and overdose epidemic. His proposal? A nationwide system of “healing farms” or recovery camps where people struggling with addiction could go to rebuild their lives
“I’m going to bring a new industry to America, where addicts can help each other recover from their addictions,” Kennedy said in his film Recovering America. “We’re going to build hundreds of healing farms where American kids can reconnect with America’s soil.”
But according to a report by NPR, critics argue that Kennedy’s plan prioritizes a moral and lifestyle-based approach over evidence-based medical treatment. One major concern is that Kennedy’s farm-based rehabilitation model does not emphasize widely accepted medical treatments for opioid use disorder, such as methadone and buprenorphine. His campaign film even appeared to cast methadone—a medication used since the 1970s to treat opioid addiction—as part of the problem, rather than a critical tool for recovery.
During an interview with NewsNation, Kennedy also expressed admiration for Italy’s San Patrignano program, a controversial rehab community that has drawn scrutiny for its tough-love approach.
“There are 2,000 kids who work on a large farm in a healing center, and that’s what we need to build here. What I would do as President is decriminalize marijuana. I would make safe banking laws for people who are selling it, but I will tax it federally. I will use that money to build these centers in rural areas,” Kennedy said in the NewsNation interview. “I would do the same thing for psychedelic drugs, which I do not think should be criminalized. I would legalize psychedelic drugs.”
However, San Patrignano’s past practices—including reports of residents being shackled or confined—were heavily criticized in a 2020 Netflix documentary.
According to NPR, Kennedy’s statements in interviews and social media posts have said that participation in these recovery centers would be voluntary—though he has also suggested that those who refuse treatment could face incarceration.