“We’re going to build healing centers in communities across the nation, places that help empower a generation beset by depression, PTSD, loneliness, addiction, and mental illness, where they can reconnect with nature and recover.” —Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
From big cities to small towns, Americans are dying from drug overdoses in record numbers. Nearly 220,000 Americans died of overdoses in the previous two years alone. The drug fentanyl, in particular, is ravaging our communities, especially young people. Tragically, 29.5 million Americans, ages 12 and up, have an alcohol use disorder. More than 178,000 people die per year in the United States due to excessive alcohol use.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was nine years old when he lost his uncle and 14 when his father was killed. In seeking relief from these traumas, he fell into addiction. Kennedy quit all alcohol and drugs at 28 and has been sober for over 40 years. The healing Kennedy experienced in his own life, motivates him to help others find that freedom and renewal.
In the new documentary, "Recovering America", RFK Jr. travels the U.S. in search of the most promising solutions to end the drug crisis and help Americans find lasting recovery. As President, Kennedy will build an innovative nationwide network of hundreds of healing centers, where people can reconnect with nature, learn the discipline of hard work, and rebuild their lives.
On Healing Farms, Americans will eat organic foods, unplug from computers and phones, be mentored by peers in recovery, and be of service.
It’s not simply a traditional rehab center. On Healing Farms, struggling Americans will master new skills such as regenerative farming and ranching, carpentry, furniture making, culinary arts, entrepreneurship and other professions including that of electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, and construction workers.
Taxing Marijuana
Healing Farms will be funded by a federal tax on marijuana with no net cost. Enrollment is free the moment a participant arrives with no time limit on recovery. The waitlists, referrals and prohibitive costs of private treatment centers are avoided and so are the risks that addicts so often succumb to – losing their motivation to heal and retreating to the cycle of use and despair. Instead, Healing Farms will foster community and provide their guests with a fresh start on life.
Today, the largest industry in America's depressed rural areas is our prison industrial complex. Since the 1980s the U.S. has built prisons in these communities to house America’s young people who have been devastated by the drug crisis. Isn’t it time to turn our national attention to healing instead? Healing Farms will foster community and bring a healthy new industry to rural areas and forgotten corners of America.
Federal Parity Law
The 2008 Federal Parity Law requires insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as addiction or depression, no more restrictively than illnesses of the body, such as cancer or diabetes. As the nationwide mental health and addiction crisis deepens, mental health parity is more important than ever. Unfortunately, many insurers are still not following the law.
Common violations of the Federal Parity Law include separate deductibles or higher copays for behavioral health services and limits on how many days a patient can stay in a treatment facility or how many times they can see a health provider. These violations are unacceptable and can result in families sacrificing college savings, retirement or even going bankrupt to pay for treatment their insurance won’t but should cover by law.
As President, Kennedy will protect the health and well-being of the American people and aggressively enforce parity law.
