At an addiction conference in Nashville, Tenn., in late April, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., spoke about his own experience with drug use. “Addiction is a source of misery. It’s also a symptom of misery,” he said. Kennedy’s very personal speech, however, ignored recent federal budget cuts and staffing reductions that could undo national drug programs’ recent progress in reversing overdoses and treating substance use.

Several experts in the crowd, including Caleb Banta-Green, a research professor at the University of Washington, who studies addiction, furiously spoke up during Kennedy’s speech. Banta-Green interrupted, shouting “Believe science!” before being removed from the venue. (The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a re

See Full Page